Maiden Swiss foray into India’s hospitality sector

August 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - To meet the demand for over 200,000 skilled workers in the hospitality sector, the tourism ministry plans to start eight new hotel management institutes to impart quality training. Union Tourism Minister Kumari Selja Monday said the existing hotel management institutes are also being asked to increase the number of courses to meet the demand.

August 11th, 2009 Hospitality Properties prices offer of 8M sharesNEWTON, Mass. — Hospitality Properties Trust on Tuesday increased its planned stock offering to 8 million shares at a price of $17.25 per share, implying $138 million in gross proceeds.

July 30th, 2009 Commerzbank sells Swiss subsidiaryFRANKFURT — Germany's Commerzbank AG said Thursday that it is selling a Swiss subsidiary which specializes in private banking to Vontobel Group of Switzerland. Financial details of the sale of Commerzbank (Switzerland) were not disclosed.

July 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Buoyed by the recent surge in capital markets, India Inc is planning to raise Rs.16,000 crore ($3.3 billion) through initial public offerings (IPOs) this fiscal, an industry lobby report said Thursday. "The companies are weighing higher expectations from renewed investor's sentiments to raise funds from the primary market," Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said.

June 18th, 2009 Hospitality Properties to sell 15 million sharesNEWTON, Mass. — Hospitality Properties Trust said Wednesday it plans to sell 15 million common shares to raise funds to repay debt.

June 14th, 2009 SHIMLA - Brunei Darussalam, the third largest oil producer in Southeast Asia, is eyeing business prospects in hospitality industry in this hill station, a senior functionary said here Sunday. "We are exploring business prospects in the hospitality industry here," Brunei's High Commissioner to India Sidek Ali told IANS.

June 7th, 2009 BANGALORE - The Indian hospitality sector, hit hard by the economic slowdown and the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, is looking to the government for a "stimulus" in the form of tax rationalisation and recognition as an industry. "The hospitality sector - especially hotels in the organised sector - is still considered elitist and luxury to be taxed at multiple levels though it generates huge employment and creates investments avenues across the country," ITC Hotels Division executive vice-president Pawan Verma told IANS here.

May 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Rajasthan attracted investments worth Rs.69,052 crore, the highest among northern states, during 2008-09, a business chamber report released here Wednesday said. The report, 'Investment Prospects in Indian Economy 2008-09' by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), said Haryana, which attracted investments worth Rs.52,852 crore, came second, followed by Uttarakhand with Rs.36,059 crore.

April 23rd, 2009 Basel bans burgers on buses: Swiss fine munchersBASEL, Switzerland — Cleanliness, order and more ways to take your money: authorities in the Swiss city of Basel may have found a perfect recipe. Tired of sticky, greasy and strong-smelling leftovers on buses and trams, authorities say they will start handing out fines up to 40 francs ($34) for soiling public transport with food and drinks.

April 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Mumbai-based Litolier Group, which opened a boutique hotel 'Ramada Plaza' here Friday, said it would enhance its presence in the hospitality sector by building two more five-star properties in next few years. The group will develop two hotels in Mumbai and Goa under a joint venture with a foreign hospitality major.

April 1st, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The global economic crisis has burnt holes in the pockets of the hospitality industry too, but growing competition and a desperate need to maintain quality mean that jobs cannot be pruned. 'Global meltdown has decreased our overall monthly business by nearly 20 percent.

February 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The growth of India's gross domestic product (GDP) dropped to 5.3 percent in the third quarter ending Dec 31 last year, compared to a growth of 8.9 percent in the same period the previous year. The economy, usually equated to the GDP, had grown by 7.6 percent in the second quarter of this fiscal.

February 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - State-run hospitality major India Tourism Development Corp (ITDC), which runs the Ashok chain of luxury hotels, is looking for properties abroad and will finalise a location in Zambia shortly. The group has chosen the African country as its president, Rupiah Banda, had stayed at the Ashok hotel in the national capital last year and later invited its top brass to invest in his country and help develop its hospitality industry.

January 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Job creation dipped 38 percent in three critical sectors in the quarter ended December 31, 2008, an industry lobby report released Thursday said. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said job creation in the financial services, IT and hospitality sectors dipped 38 percent between October-December 2008, compared to the previous quarter, and predicted the situation would continue to be 'bleak' in 2009.

January 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A leading industry lobby has advocated a five-year tax holiday for hotels including five-star establishments in and around the capital to expedite hotel room construction before the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. The Union budget of 2007-08 provides a five-year tax holiday for two-star, three-star and four-star hotels and convention centres in Delhi, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Gautam Budh Nagar (Noida) and Ghaziabad.