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Mahindra Holidays & Resorts to add over 300 rooms by Mar

Mahindra Holidays & Resorts, which operates under the flagship Club Mahindra brand of membership-only resorts, plans to add over 300 rooms by March to take the overall inventory to 4,500 keys, a top company official has said. The Mahindra group firm had reported the highest quarterly profit of INR 40.6 crore in the three months to September 2021 amid the pandemic that has hit the hospitality and tourism industry badly. It operates 78 properties offering 4,197 keys and has been clocking about 80 per cent occupancy in the third quarter and hopes to better it going ahead provided there is no third wave and the resultant mobility curbs. "We started this fiscal with 4,197 rooms and we are on course to close the year with an inventory of 4,500 rooms. We are adding a little over 300 rooms to our existing properties at Assonora in Goa and Ganapatiphule in Maharashtra," Kavinder Singh, managing director and chief executive of Mahindra Holidays, told PTI. Refusing to give an exact investment going into these brownfield (existing) projects, he said these are part of the planned INR 1,200-crore capital investment to add over 1,000 rooms in the next three years ending FY24 when "we will an inventory to over 5,500 rooms. Last fiscal, we added 150 rooms" Singh sounded confident of closing the year almost at the FY20 levels given the rising occupancy which is sniffing at 78-80 per cent, marginally up from Q2 levels which were already at the pre-pandemic level in terms of occupancy. While Q2 occupancy was at par with the pre-pandemic level, October and November averaged at 78-79 per cent and December should be well above 80 per cent, Singh said. The third quarter is already close to the FY20 level as resort income has been steadily growing and is above the pre-pandemic level, he said stopping short of saying they will close FY23 better than FY22 numbers given the uncertainty about the third wave. Asked about acquisition plans as the company has been growing through that route especially outside (Holiday Club Resorts in Finland which has a balancesheet almost as big as Club Mahindra's), Singh said leisure properties are doing well overseas and there is hardly anyone looking for distress sale, ruling out any immediate announcement on this front. But, Singh was quick to add that they are always on the lookout for good assets. On how they could weather the pandemic storm, Singh said Club Mahindra has a unique business model wherein its occupancy is assured, as it's a membership-only timeshare club. He added that 96 per cent of a new upfront annual membership fee is considered as differed income, as they can book only four per cent of the membership fee into the balance sheet annually. "That means with over 2.59 lakh members, we are sitting on differed income of close to INR 5,000 crore and the net deferred revenue on the book as of Q2 was 4,400 crore on a standalone basis," he said. The company is debt-free and has assured cash-flows from a subscription monetisation point of view. Of the INR 265.2 crore revenue in Q2, the biggest chunk came from vacation ownership at INR 96.7 crore, followed by an annual subscription fee of INR 76.2 crore, INR 50.8 crore as resort income and INR 14 crore in interest income and a treasury income at INR 27.6 crore, he said. Of the 78 properties that Club Mahindra operates overall, its Finnish subsidiary Holiday Club, which is a leading vacation ownership company in Europe, runs 33 timeshare destinations and nine spa resorts across Finland, Sweden and Spain. In Q2, on a standalone basis, Mahindra Holidays had INR 265.2 crore of revenue, up 25.3 per cent year-on-year, from which it earned INR 40.6 crore in net income, which was up by 20.2 per cent and a cash balance of INR 1,041 crore, up from INR 950 crore. On a consolidated level, which includes the Finnish operations, total income stood at INR 593.3 crore, up 16.1 per cent and net income of INR 59.8 crore, up 107.7 per cent.

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Hong Kong Cyclothon Returns

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has announced the return of the much-anticipated Sun Hung Kai Properties Hong Kong Cyclothon on 16th January 2022. This would be a hybrid format event on a new stunning route, with free virtual race from 3rd – 16th January 2022 and the physical event for HK residents on 16th January 2022. The physical event will include the Hong Kong Section of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge (HZMB) for the first time. The HZMB is a massive maritime bridge that connects Hong Kong, Zhuhai, and Macao. It is the world's longest bridge-tunnel system sea crossing, traversing the waters of the Lingdingyang channel in the Pearl River Estuary. Started in 2015, the Hong Kong Cyclothon has attracted 1,700 local and international cyclists to take part in the unique cycling experience in the city. “This year’s Hong Kong Cyclothon will not only be the first sports event held on the world’s longest bridge-tunnel sea crossing as it is taking a whole route on the HZMB but also the first time a virtual experience has been incorporated into the event, offering cyclists worldwide who are unable to take part physically a thrilling and immersive experience of racing over the landmark bridge. These special features are a pilot run for future intercity events in the Greater Bay Area and consolidate Hong Kong’s status as the international tourism event capital in the GBA. I sincerely hope participants from other cities in the Area will come and ride with us in the years to come,” Dane Cheng, Executive Director, HKTB said.

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PM Modi to inaugurate new international airport terminal in Agartala on January 4

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new terminal building of the Maharaja Bir Bikram International Airport in Agartala, Tripura on January 4, 2022. The new airport is built on a 30,000 sq metre area and will be able to handle 1,000 domestic and 200 international passengers daily. The airport is currently the second busiest airport in the Northeast region. Sharing the information, Chief Minister of Tripura, Biplab Kumar Deb, said that Union Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiradiya Scindia, and senior officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) would also be present at the programme. The Prime Minister is also expected to address a political rally afterwards. The New Integrated Terminal Building (NITB) has been built at a cost of INR 3,400 crore. The new airport will house one hangar, six bays, 10 immigration counters, five customs counters, provision for link cabs, and a bagging system in the new terminal. The airport was first built as a military airstrip in 1942 on the land donated by the last ruler of the region, Bir Bikram Manikya Bahadur after whom the airport got its name in 2018. The airport is set to be managed and operated by the Adani Group under the PPP model from 2022. The airport currently managed by the AAI handles close to 5,000 passengers daily with close to 20 flights operating in and out of the airport.

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Madhya Pradesh making efforts to revive tourism and hospitality

Madhya Pradesh is making efforts to re-enable the sectors which were more affected by Covid, these would include the hospitality, tourism, and travel industries. Addressing the 104th Annual Conference of the Indian Economic Association in Bhopal, Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan spoke about how the seminar would prove to be helpful for tourism, industry, agriculture, service, and how new projects should be run for inclusive development of the environment. Chouhan said that the state would work to implement the suggestions of the participating economists which would, in turn, help to strengthen the economy while protecting natural resources. The Chief Minister expressed hope that this seminar would serve to be a guide for self-reliant India. He said the discussions in the symposium on topics such as global trade would be useful to the country as a whole. He said efforts are also being made for the holistic development of the economy of the country. Vice-Chairman of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis economist, Sachin Chaturvedi, said that the conference provides the medium to reflect on important aspects of the economy and this would form the crux of the discussions at the various sessions. The role of banks, efforts to benefit people in Mudra and other schemes will also be discussed. Despite Conference President Indian Economic Association and NITI Aayog member, Ramesh Chandra, said that Madhya Pradesh was once a BIMARU state, but now it is a Sucharu(properly-run) state. Chandra said that due to the reforms made in the field of agriculture, irrigation, facility to farmers to sell produce at support price, and adoption of means like Bhavantar, the growth rate of Madhya Pradesh has increased.

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'No Vaccine, No Entry' a good step, will help sensitise public: TAAI

The Haryana Government has made the second dose of Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for people to enter malls, restaurants, banks, offices and other public places starting January 1, 2022. As soon as this statement was issued many eyebrows were raised and speculations were made as this was an apt decision taken or not; speaking on which Jyoti Mayal, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) said that it might be a good step in itself as it can create a sense of awareness and sansitise general public about vaccination during Covid-19 global pandemic. “Prohibiting entry for non-vaccinated people might prove to be helpful in containing the spread of this deadly pandemic and refraining such people entering into public places will prompt public to get fully vaccinated as early as possible and fulfill their duty as citizen," she said. Adding to which Jay Bhatia, VP, TAAI said, “Though the vaccination drive in the country is going on in full swing, there are still many areas to cover because of uneven distribution of the population and large number of rural areas where health care facility is not at par with urban areas. Such a rule might create inconvenience for people who are not vaccinated and travelling for work. However, there is a need for uniform vaccination compulsion rule in all the states.” The Haryana guideline states that only fully vaccinated people will be allowed to travel from bus stands, railway stations and other places of gatherings like religious places, petrol and CNG stations, LPG gas cylinder collection centres, sugar mills, milk booths, ration shops also to allow only fully vaccinated people. "Such decision could have a positive impact instead of the negative one. The decision sounds promising but considering the large number of population and availability of the vaccination slots especially in remote and rural areas might become a challenge but for greater good, such steps are required," said Bettaiah Lokesh, HSG, TAAI. "We all have seen the severity of this virus by now and how it affects us on so many levels. Vaccination plays a big role in decreasing its severity and avoid deaths as much as possible. This move may turned out to be a successful one as the vaccination rate might increase significantly in the state," stated Shreeram Patel, Treasurer, TAAI.

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India inks air bubble travel agreement with Saudi Arabia, flights to start from January 1

Providing some relief to people who are planning to travel to Saudi Arabia, the Indian government has announced that they have signed the air bubble flight agreement with the Gulf nation, and direct flights between both nations will commence soon. Sharing the information, the Indian Embassy in Riyadh said that the agreement will come into effect from January 1. With this, India now has an air bubble agreement with 34 countries, which includes, Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tanzania, Ukraine, UAE, United Kingdom, USA, and Uzbekistan. Scheduled international passenger flight operations remain suspended in India till January 31. The government earlier this month had informed the Parliament that they have a proposal from 10 countries to sign the air bubble agreement, out of which announcements have been made for Australia and Saudi Arabia now. The major nations to follow the suit are Thailand and New Zealand. “India has created an air bubble arrangement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Indian carriers and carriers of Saudi Arabia are now permitted to operate flights between India and Saudi Arabia and carry passengers on flights defined in the agreement. Traffic carried to/from India shall comprise of passengers originating from/destined to Saudi Arabia only, and similarly, traffic carried to/from Saudi Arabia shall comprise of passengers originating from/destined to India only,” read the official statement. One week back, Saudi Arabia had recognised Covaxin as an approved Covid-19 vaccine for the travel of incoming international passengers. In November 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had granted emergency use approval to the indigenously made vaccine by Bharat Biotech. In November, the Kingdom had approved another widely used vaccine in India, Covishield apart from exempting Indians from mandatory quarantine on arrival. Transport Bubbles or Air Travel Arrangements are temporary arrangements between two countries aimed at restarting commercial passenger services when regular international flights are suspended as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. They are reciprocal in nature, meaning airlines from both countries enjoy similar benefits. Who can travel on air bubble flights? From India to Saudi Arabia: Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan holding a valid visa of Saudi Arabia and destined for Saudi Arabia only. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese nationals to enter Saudi Arabia before the issue of ticket/boarding pass to the Indian/Nepalese /Bhutanese passenger. From Saudi Arabia to India: Indian nationals or nationals of Nepal or Bhutan in Saudi Arabia and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cardholders and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cardholders holding passports of any country. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Non-Indian nationals to enter India with a particular visa category before issuing of ticket/boarding pass to the passenger, and Saudi Arabian nationals (including diplomats) holding a valid Indian visa can also travel as per extant guidelines.

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