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Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, The Palm, Dubai opens its doors

Taj, today announced the opening of Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, The Palm in Dubai. Nestled between the Arabian Sea and the city skyline, the luxury beachfront resort is located in the heart of Palm Jumeirah. This is the third Taj branded hotel in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Commenting on the launch, Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, IHCL, said, “This opening is in line with our strong focus to be present in global growth markets. With the addition of Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, IHCL expands to strengthen its footprint in Dubai. We are honoured to partner with the Arenco Group to bring Taj’s signature hospitality to Palm Jumeirah, one of the world’s most exciting destinations.” Reflecting the very best of Taj, the resort offers 325 elegantly styled rooms and suites, an array of culinary experiences and holistic wellness at the award winning Jiva spa; replete with a private beach and the longest pool in Palm Jumeirah. This island hideaway’s contemporary interiors by Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA) weaves in traditional craftsmanship and is influenced by its surroundings. Guests can embark on a sensorial culinary journey across the resort’s many dining options. Be it inspired Indian fine dining at Varq; a unique gastropub experience at the Roaring Rabbit; Arabesque atmosphere at Raia, the rooftop bar & lounge; Palm Kitchen, which brings alive the flavours of international fare; or The Coast, a beachside bistro offering coastal delicacies; there is something for everybody at the city’s all new dining destination. Ranjit Phillipose, Area Director – Middle East and General Manager Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, The Palm, Dubai, said, “We are thrilled to welcome our guests to Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, the latest addition to Dubai’s vibrant lifestyle, dining and cityscape. This island oasis will allow guests to create memories of a lifetime as they immerse themselves in the sincere care and warmth that Taj is synonymous with.” Jiva, the all-natural spa inspired by traditional Indian healing techniques, features treatments including Ayurveda, Indian therapies, yoga, meditation and more. The Popsicle Kids Club, with a dedicated shallow water pool and a playground, makes it the perfect getaway for families with children. Two expansive ballrooms and multiple meeting rooms are ideal for conferences, social events, and weddings. With the addition of this hotel, IHCL has four Taj hotels in UAE including one under development.

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Cygnett Group of Hotels and Resorts launches 4-star 60-room hotel in Jaipur

Continuing its aggressive expansion mode and offering a pleasant hospitality experience, Cygnett Hotels & Resorts has announced the launch of Cygnett Park B.L, Jaipur. The 60-room hotel is a midscale full-service business hotel, the well-appointed modern rooms, large facility banquets, and an all-day multi-cuisine restaurant makes it a favourable hotel brand for business and leisure travellers. Cygnett Park B.L allows easy accessibility, strategically located at Ajmer Road and first hotel from the Delhi bypass while entering the Royal city of Jaipur, just 12 km from the Airport, 7.3 km from Railway Station and 8.5 km from Sindhi Camp Bus stand. “Cygnett Park B.L, Jaipur is a state-of-the-art modern hotel that has been built with an ideology and keeping ‘guest convenience’ in concern. We want to give our guests the best of stay and delicious dining experience at an affordable price that is easy on their pocket,” said Sarbendra Sarkar, Founder and Managing Director, Cygnett Hotels & Resorts. The hotel features three categories of rooms – superior, club and suites, a restaurant offering world cuisine, and four state-of-the-art banquets and conference rooms that suit all your requirements and a perfect space to organise conferences, meetings, social events and weddings. All hotel rooms are equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity, a minibar, tea/coffee maker and 43” LED TV with set-top box, allowing you a relaxing stay. The large banquet hall, Columbia can accommodate up to 150 people in theatre style and 300 people in an informal setting. Altogether, the hotel offers a banqueting space of 10,000 + sq ft with 3 beautiful and spacious halls and a huge rooftop overlooking the city of Jaipur, an enticing area to rejoice the moment. The hotel offers an all-day dining facility at Cygnett Pavilion that caters to discerning food lovers with an eclectic global fare (both a-la-carte and buffet). Cygnett Park BL also features a large infinity pool at the rooftop with Gazebo seating. The hotel also provides city tours to its guests on request and is only 5 mins (2.8 km) from Vaishali Nagar, the new CBD area of the city.

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HRAWI requests Maharashtra government to allow all kinds of events, social gatherings to operate at full capacity

The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) has requested the Maharashtra government to allow all kinds of events and social gatherings to operate at full capacity in the state after it welcomed the decision of the state government to allow restaurants to operate at 100 per cent capacity. In a bid to revive MICE business and segment, HRAWI making the request mentioned that the segment across hotels and independent venues has taken a major beating all through the last couple of years. Commenting on it, Pradeep Shetty, Senior Vice President, HRAWI, said, “The hospitality industry welcomes the move, and we thank the Maharashtra government for allowing restaurants to operate at 100 per cent capacity. Almost after 708 days, restaurants in fourteen districts including Mumbai will go back to operating at 100 per cent capacity. While this is a big relief for restaurants in these districts, the remaining restaurants in the State continue to suffer. Not only are these restaurants continuing to operate at 50 per cent capacity but also timing restrictions have not been lifted for restaurants in the remaining 22 districts." Also, the MICE segment across hotels and independent venues has taken a major beating all through the last couple of years. All kinds of events and social gatherings should be now allowed to operate at full capacity like it was prior to March 2020. Shetty further added that relief measures for the hospitality sector are needed urgently. "The state now should do everything it can to bring back confidence amongst its citizens and businesses. We request the government to restore normal timings as well as allow all hotels and restaurants to operate at 100 per cent capacity across all the districts in the state,” he mentioned. Citing the unpredictability of business even in the future with the science community expecting more waves of the pandemic to hit, HRAWI has earlier urged the government to provide an extension of the deadline to pay the license fees for FY 2022-23 from March 31, 2022, to June 30, 2022. It has also requested that establishments be allowed to pay the renewal fees for FY 2022-23 in four instalments.

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How Delhi govt plans to bring key markets on tourism map

Delhi Tourism is motivating market associations to highlight the key features and places of their areas through photographs on the “Dekho Meri Dilli” app to help tourists locate popular and prominent destinations easily, which will increase footfall. The initiative has been taken to mark the 75th year of Independence. In a letter shared with Kamla Nagar Market Association, Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation stated that they had launched an extremely simple and user-friendly mobile app, which would contribute to the digital revolution in the city. “We are inviting market associations to become active partners in promotion of tourism and highlight key features of their areas. We have asked them to come forward with details that can be uploaded on the app and simplify the search by tourists for hygienic and suitable markets,” said a Delhi Tourism official. The official added that the idea was not to promote the app, but the tourist ecosystem, highlight the potential of various places, facilities available and get feedback from visitors about the upkeep and hygiene as well as their wholesome experience. “If there are any gaps, they can be improved. The user can be anyone, including a resident unaware about other parts of Delhi and wanting to know about shopping, cuisines, accommodation and other facilities,” said the official. “The app is one step forward to making tourism an enjoyable experience in Delhi as it celebrates the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. A special feature of the mobile app is ease of online bookings to specific sites, like Mughal Gardens, etc,” the letter accessed by TOI mentioned. The move has been welcomed by traders’ associations, who claim that this will boost their sales and footfall after a long lull due to the pandemic. Nitin Gupta, president of Kamla Nagar Market Association, said, “We gave feedback about the app to senior Delhi Tourism officials and submitted the highlights of our markets along with photographs. We admire the move to include our markets in the app as it will help visitors coming from other states. Considering the markets have suffered a lot during the pandemic for the past two years, this move will help in boosting some sales too.” The “Dekho Meri Dilli” app can be downloaded from Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store as well as through QR code.

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Rajasthan becomes the first state to introduce 'night sky astro tourism' in all 33 districts

Good news for sky watchers! Rajasthan in India has become the first state to launch the night sky astro tourism in all its 33 districts! Jaipur, the royal capital of Rajasthan, alone has four famous star gazing venues including Jantar-Mantar, Amber Fort, University of Maharaja and Jawahar Kala Kendra. Mugdha Sinha, Rajasthan's Department of Science and Technology Secretary, informed that besides Rajasthan, the Bikaner House in New Delhi has also been chosen as a hub for astro tourism and a telescope will be installed for tourists for skywatching. Talking more about the event, she said that because of COVID-19, there was a strict lockdown, people were locked inside their houses and a number of interesting astronomical events were taking place in the sky. Focusing more on the journey, she said that they later organised the star gazing session at the secretariat and the officials were also quite excited. Then the decision to launch it for the public was taken on January 21, 2021 and it was quite a hit. Soon, recommendations started pouring in from officials from distant districts for sky gazing and the idea was accepted by the chief minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot. On March 3, the CM announced the introduction of Night Sky Astro Tourism in all 33 districts of the state. Mugdha further added, "Now, we shall get telescopes for all districts and for Bikaner House too.” One of the prime features of the product is that it will be managed by calendars of the sky and sky will play the main guide to fix the dates for such events.

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The Bahamas relaxes COVID protocols, drops day 5 RAT requirement

The Government of The Bahamas has relaxed the after-arrival COVID-19 testing mandate, as a result of declining cases and international protocol adjustments. Effective immediately, all persons traveling to The Bahamas are no longer required to take a COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test on the fifth (5th) day of travel regardless of vaccination status. However, visitors must follow the COVID testing requirements for return to their respective countries. “It is important to remain fluid and adapt our protocols to reflect a changing environment.” These were the words of Acting Prime Minister the Honorable I. Chester Cooper, Bahamas Minister of Tourism, Investments & Aviation, “and we are pleased to be able to eliminate The Bahamas’ testing requirements”. Our visitors are required to follow prescribed entry protocols including, applying for a Bahamas Travel Health Visa at travel.gov.bs and uploading their pre-departure test results, taken no more than three days (72 hours) prior to the date of arrival. Visitors should visit Bahamas.com/travelupdates to review accepted forms of testing for entry based on vaccination status. An island-by-island list of approved testing sites is available at Bahamas.com/travelupdates. “Despite the challenges of COVID-19, the strong desire for travel to The Bahamas has not diminished,” said Latia Duncombe, Acting Director General, Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation. “We remain positioned for a steady tourism recovery, and we will continue to assist efficiencies of travel-related requirements for our beloved visitors while protecting the health and safety of everyone.”

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