The Leela Palace New Delhi has appointed Dharmen Makawana as the new Executive Chef. Spearheading the culinary operations of The Leela Palace New Delhi, Chef Makawana will lead the award-winning kitchen team to orchestrate "an inimitable dining experience" for the discerning guests of capital city's most awarded restaurants.
Consider this: Iran, the cradle of the ancient Persian Empire, has great potential for tourism and hospitality but the development of these sectors in the country has been far from linear and that remains the case today, mainly due to geopolitics.
More than 300 industry leaders are to gather next week at the inaugural Iran Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference (IHTIC). H.E. Dr. Zahra Ahmadipour, Vice President - Head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO), will open the conference alongside Ahmad Jamali, General Director for Foreign Investment at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance. Two days of panel discussions and thought leadership presentations by leading industry experts will follow, along with a unique chance to hear political leaders' views first-hand and opportunities to network with prominent investors, developers and operators.According to the latest Euromonitor report "Travel in Iran", Iran is, without a doubt, the new up-and-coming tourism destination, and is likely to become the leading tourism market in the MENA region, provided that the infrastructure is able to develop and cope with changes. President Hassan Rouhani is determined to boost tourism and encourage foreign investment and the Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organisation is working on this hand in hand with local municipalities to attract more investors. An increasing number of investors are eyeing the opportunities in Iran, however, there are still regulatory and red tape hurdles in the process. Dr. Saeed Shirkavand, Deputy of Planning and Investment at Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO), will take to the stage next week to present investment opportunities in Iran.
Iran is proving to be an increasingly popular destination with air travellers, experiencing growing passenger numbers from around the world – a trend that looks like continuing during 2017, according to a study by ForwardKeys, the leading travel intelligence analyst. Total international arrivals were up 18.3% last year, sustaining an upward path since 2013 (up 2.7%), 2014 (24.8%) and 2015 (12.7%). The pattern is reflected by a consistent year-on-year increase in total scheduled seats: 2014 (up 10.5%), 2015 (18.3%), 2016 (17.3%).
Iran, the 18th largest economy in the world, is to host the first Iran Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference (IHTIC), a top-level gathering of international investors, owners, operators, developers and government officials.In addition to rich reserves of oil, gas and metals, Iran has a promising consumer sector with a well-educated population of 80 million inhabitants. There are huge investment opportunities across all of Iran's economic sectors – energy, mining, hospitality & tourism, fast moving consumer goods, food & beverage, retail, automotive, aviation and manufacturing. Under the 2025 Tourism Vision plan, Iran is expecting to increase the number of tourism arrivals from 4.8 million in 2014 to 20 million by 2025. The 4.8 million tourists brought around $6.5 billion in revenue to the country despite sanctions and limitations imposed by the EU, the UN and the USA. With the lifting of sanctions in January, it is expected that by 2025 the country will receive $30 billion from tourism income. Only 13 out of the 96 hotels in Tehran are classified as four or five-star, although it is widely acknowledged that these would not meet internationally recognised standards for such classification.
Meliá Hotels International has announced its entry into the Iranian market with the first five-star branded hotel to be managed by an international hotel company, the Gran Melia Ghoo Hotel, located in the largest mixed residential, commercial and hotel complex to be developed in Iran, currently being built in Salman Shahr, a popular holiday destination on the Caspian Sea. The Spanish hotel chain thus takes an important step to becoming one of the leading international hotel groups in Iran, a country which expects to see significant tourism development after the lifting of sanctions that have restricted foreign investment since 2006.
The company signed a management agreement with owner Aria Ziggurat Tourism Development Company for its two inaugural properties in Tehran: The Novotel IKIA and Ibis IKIA. AccorHotels, the world’s leading hotel operator, today announced that it has signed a management agreement with Aria Ziggurat for its two inaugural properties in Tehran. The new hotels – Novotel IKIA and ibis IKIA – are connected to the main terminal of Imam Khomeini International Airport and scheduled to open in October 2015. AccorHotels is the first international hotel group to launch its brands in Iran.
Every year, the hotel experts and analysts at Horwath HTL worldwide produce a series of mini-country reports exclusively for The Hotel Yearbook. Each report focuses on just two things: first, a quick snapshot of the country’s current economic and hotel market situation, and second, the outlook for the year ahead, highlighting specific events that are anticipated to have an impact on the health of the country’s hotel business.