Page 20 - Express Travel World

IN THE NEWS

Marriott International to open

20 hotels in India this year

ETW Staff three years. Marriott Interna- national, having over 6,000 ho- four to 10 per cent. The highest should come down if India
Mumbai tional’s vice-president (South tels across the world, operates is in Australia, that is 18 per wants to attract foreign cus-
Asia) Neeraj Govil said, “This 98 properties in the country cent. We have put forward our tomers. “GST of 28 per cent is
American hospitality group year, we are opening 20 hotels under 15 different brands, in- demand before the government levied on upscale hotels which
Marriott International is open- in India and the Renaissance in cluding Renaissance. about reduction in GST rates normally attract international
ing 20 hotels in India this year Ahmedabad is the first one. While Govil is quiet about through various industry bod- customers. This 28 per cent
and the first of these was inau- Probably by the end of this the growth potential in India ies,” Govil said. GST is the highest in the Asia
gurated today in the city. Re- year, another hotel Courtyard and Gujarat, he feels the GST According to Vinay Gupta, Pacific region.Twenty-eight per
naissance Ahmedabad Hotel, by Marriott will come up on the range of 18 per cent and 28 per vice president (asset manage- cent tax here serves as a deter-
which has 155 rooms was inau- Sindhu Bhavan Road here. We cent (depending on room tar- ment), SAMHI Hotels, which rent in attracting international
gurated in Ahmedabad. The are planning to open seven ho- iffs) should come down. “Tax owns the Renaissance Ahmed- customers. It should come
world’s largest hotel chain is tels in Gujarat in the next three rates in most of the markets we abad Hotel and gave it to Mar- down,” said Gupta.
planning to open seven more years.” compete with such as Thailand riott for operation, feels that (PTI)
hotels in Gujarat in the next At present, Marriott Inter- or Singapore are in the range of the GST rate of 28 per cent

ParkInn byRadisson IPExtension introduces smart

rooms with voice-activation

ETW Staff TV set. Guests’ smartphones can
Mumbai also be used as a remote control
for the television and set-top box.
Park Inn by Radisson IP Exten- Their phones can double as a key-
sion has launched its voice assis- board and mouse, turning the TV
tant-enabled smart hotel rooms. screen into a computer interface.
The property features rooms The studio rooms integrated
having a complete automation of with this technology have been
service requests and virtual con- configured by Kamakshi Clouds, a
trol of TV and lighting fixtures. Bengaluru-based software firm.
Six of the property’s studio rooms M A Kannan, director, Ka-
have been fitted with Amazon’s makshi Clouds, said, “Almost
AI-powered Echo Dot devices. every industry in the world is on
This allows guests to control light the cusp of AI revolution, with a
settings, music played in the promise of improved efficiencies.
room, and the television with sim- Therefore, it is time for hotel busi-
ple voice commands. Addition- nesses to embrace this change
ally, guests can now request for with great dexterity, as the sector
services such as room cleaning, contributes extensively to India’s
wake-up calls, laundry, in-room GDP. Web RTC, used to power
dining, and room check-out by the smart rooms at Park Inn by
speaking to the smart device. Radisson IP Extension, is a highly
Alternately, guests can man- disruptive technology that allows
age basic room functions and guests to turn on/off lights and
service requests with a tap of the TV with just one tap.”
their personal mobile phones, Saurav Dutta, general man- tures in India. With the voice-acti- of our on-going efforts to offer be- The smart studio rooms had
without downloading any app. ager, Park Inn by Radisson IP Ex- vated in-room solutions, we ex- spoke experiences that evolve been under beta testing for the
Park Inn by Radisson IP Exten- tension, said, “Internet of Things pect a 50 per cent improvement with the needs of our patrons.” last seven months, prior to its
sion, New Delhi is the first prop- (IoT) and voice-enabled technolo- in housekeeping efficiencies, en- Once checked-in, guests can preliminary rollout in January
erty in the world to provide this gies are without a doubt the fu- suring speedier completion of use their mobile devices to play 2018. The hotel plans to expand
app-free solution, with Web RTC ture and we are excited to pio- service requests. Eventually, the videos and listen to music, such the AI services, to other rooms,
technology, according to an offi- neer these comprehensive and intent is to diversify and grow the as Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, after review of guest preferences
cial release. intuitive smart hotel room fea- connected room features, as part and YouTube, beamed onto the in the days to come.

20 EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD
February 2018