Karma Lakelands Takes Green Hospitality Further with Spalba’s Digital Tools

Karma Lakelands Takes Green Hospitality Further with Spalba’s Digital Tools

By Manu Vardhan Kannan

Published on December 18, 2024

Karma Lakelands, a leading eco-friendly resort in Delhi, is furthering its commitment to sustainability by adopting Spalba’s innovative digital tools. This partnership brings together the best of green hospitality and technology, enhancing the event planning process and providing clients with a unique and immersive venue experience.

With the help of Spalba’s technology, including 3D walkthroughs and digital twins, Karma Lakelands can now showcase its venues remotely. This reduces the need for in-person visits, cutting down on carbon emissions. The digital solutions also streamline bookings, shorten the time it takes to close deals, and enable quick remote reservations. These tools provide clients with a virtual tour of the property, allowing them to experience the venue’s offerings before making any commitments, all while supporting an eco-friendly event experience.

Akash Roy Saigal, General Manager at Karma Lakelands, shared his thoughts on the collaboration: “At Karma Lakelands, we’re always looking for ways to work better and provide great client experiences. Working with Spalba has changed how we plan events. We now use virtual walkthroughs and 3D setups, which help us show off our property in a whole new way. This change has made our operations smoother and boosted our sales conversions by 50%, letting us highlight what our space can do like never before.”

The collaboration also resonates with Spalba’s founder, Naveen Gupta, who believes the company’s values align perfectly with Karma Lakelands’ green initiatives. He commented, “Our digital tools at Spalba allow hotels to present their venues in an engaging and eco-friendly way. We help reduce their environmental footprint, increase their online presence, and create more opportunities for cross-selling.”

Karma Lakelands, known for its picturesque eco-friendly homes and top-tier golf course, is setting a new benchmark in the hospitality industry by adopting these digital tools. By integrating sustainable practices into their event planning, the resort is not only enhancing client engagement but also expanding its reach to a wider audience through online tours and digital experiences.


Zoomcar Unveils ZoomPro Dashboard to Power India’s Evolving Self-Drive Fleet Economy

Zoomcar Unveils ZoomPro Dashboard to Power India’s Evolving Self-Drive Fleet Economy

By Manu Vardhan Kannan

Published on July 13, 2025

Zoomcar has introduced ZoomPro, a smart fleet management dashboard built to enhance the efficiency and performance of India’s self-drive mobility ecosystem. Tailored for large B2B fleet operators, the platform enables users to manage bookings, pricing, and vehicle performance with ease, marking a major step in Zoomcar’s vision of tech-led transformation.

ZoomPro arrives at a time when Zoomcar is celebrating strong performance in FY25, which includes a 10% year-on-year rise in bookings and an 86% surge in repeat users. These trends signal growing consumer confidence and the rising demand for tech-enabled self-drive options.

“We’re building more than a marketplace, we’re enabling the operating system for self-drive mobility in India,” said Anirudh Lamba, Head of Marketing and Partnerships at Zoomcar. “With ZoomPro, our B2B toolkit empowers fleet operators to drive better performance, higher earnings, and superior guest experiences at scale.”

The dashboard offers a data-first interface that reflects how modern operators function across multiple cities and users. It provides real-time insights on vehicle metrics and customer behavior, allowing for more accurate decision-making and enhanced fleet control.

According to Vishal Ramrakhyani, Head of Engineering, “ZoomPro has been designed to scale with our partners. It supports long-term growth through tools like bulk onboarding, AI-powered recommendations, and soon, LLM-based customer support for faster and more personalized issue resolution.”

Zoomcar’s FY25 milestones also include a USD 4.25 million contribution profit at a 47% margin, a 58% rise in high-rated host vehicles, and a 67% drop in operational losses, validating its pivot to partner-first innovation.

The launch of ZoomPro is set to redefine how India's self-drive car rental sector operates, offering greater transparency, higher efficiency, and scalable tools for large fleet operators aiming to stay ahead in a rapidly growing market.


Mews expands Digital Key with Salto integration for seamless guest access

Mews expands Digital Key with Salto integration for seamless guest access

By Nishang Narayan

Published on July 12, 2025

Mews has announced a strategic integration with Salto’s smart locking system, enhancing its Digital Key offering and paving the way for a more seamless, contactless guest experience. Through this partnership, hotels using Salto’s access control can now enable guests to unlock rooms via their mobile devices using the Mews Hospitality Cloud—eliminating the need for physical keys altogether.

This move streamlines the check-in process, reduces manual front desk tasks, and strengthens overall security. Matt Welle, CEO of Mews, said, “Every step of the guest journey should be effortless. With Salto smart access for hospitality compatibility, more properties can reduce the friction around arrival and check-in. Digital Key is a win-win because it’s as much about operational efficiency as it is about improving guest satisfaction.”

Early results from Belgian brand YUST, which operates a hybrid model for short and long stays, show the integration’s impact. At its Antwerp property, 12% of guests checked in using Digital Key in the first month without any promotional push, and 64% of those with an active digital key used it to access their rooms. Dirk Van Gompel, CTO of YUST, shared, “Digital Key makes it easy for guests to go straight to their room, while creating real-time savings for our team, who can then focus on building real human connections.”

Salto’s Nora Urquiza highlighted the value of this collaboration, stating, “Our integration with Mews reinforces our commitment to delivering a seamless, secure, and modern digital experience through strong technology alliances.”

Beyond convenience, the integration also cuts down on environmental waste by removing the need for plastic keycards and supports a fully digital, on-the-go check-in and check-out process. Fully embedded within the Mews Hospitality Cloud, the Digital Key capability allows hotels to customise and automate the guest experience, opening new avenues for upselling and enhanced guest engagement.

Mews has been on a roll with tech enhancements, recently rolling out a Multicurrency feature for customers across Europe.


OYO Joins Hands with Yatra to Strengthen Business Travel Offerings

OYO Joins Hands with Yatra to Strengthen Business Travel Offerings

By Manu Vardhan Kannan

Published on July 12, 2025

Hospitality tech firm OYO has entered a strategic partnership with leading online travel platform Yatra, bringing over 500 company-serviced hotels under mid-premium and premium brands to Yatra’s booking platform for the first time. These hotels will cater specifically to the rising demand in the business travel segment across India.

The hotels listed include OYO’s SUNDAY, Palette, Clubhouse, Townhouse, Townhouse Oak, and Collection O brands. The collaboration covers key business hubs like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad, along with fast-growing industrial and transit corridors.

OYO plans to list 1,000 more company-serviced hotels on Yatra by September 2025, enhancing Yatra’s accommodation offerings in emerging metros, where business travel is expanding due to infrastructure growth and regional economic activity.

India’s business travel sector reached $38.2 billion in 2024, making it the 8th largest market globally and 4th in Asia-Pacific. The OYO-Yatra partnership aligns with this growth by offering curated business accommodation solutions with added benefits such as:

  • Standardized amenities like clean linen, AC rooms, Wi-Fi, and hygienic washrooms
  • Centralized billing and GST-compliant invoicing
  • Flexible cancellation/rescheduling policies
  • Expense tracking and dedicated account managers for corporate bookings

Yatra, with over 800 large corporate clients and 10,000+ SMEs, earns 65% of gross bookings from corporate and B2B travel. This partnership adds substantial value to its users by expanding quality lodging options in previously underserved regions.

Earlier this year, OYO launched Oravel Travel Solutions, a vertical focused on corporate travel, offering end-to-end services like smooth check-ins, meal plans, event support, and custom holiday packages.

Speaking on the development, Varun Jain, COO of OYO, shared:

“While direct demand continues to be our mainstay, contributing nearly 80% of our total business, we are now looking to tap into a niche segment of business travelers who are exploring emerging business hubs. This partnership also opens up opportunities to cater to companies embracing blended travel programs, combining business and leisure.”

According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the business travel market is on track to return to pre-2019 levels by 2025, backed by strong corporate earnings and a rise in in-person meetings. This trend suggests a sustained increase in demand for reliable and quality stay options.

With this partnership, OYO and Yatra are set to redefine India’s corporate travel landscape, delivering convenience, flexibility, and consistency for the modern business traveler.

Stay up-to-date with the latest Hospitality news and trends in the Hospitality industry!

Subscribe to Hospitality news e-magazine for free and never miss an issue.

By clicking subscribe for free you agree to the Terms & Conditions and acknowledge our Privacy Policy.

Advertise With Us

We have various options to advertise with us including Events, Advertorials, Banners, Mailers, etc.