Fort Munnar
ROYAL GROUP OF COMPANIES
The Royal Group of Companies is a multi facetted group with diversified business activities in various fields including Aviation, Shipping, Education, Advertising, Plantation, Hospitality industry and Travel & Tourism. The Group has its Corporate Office in the heart of Cochin City, popularly known as “The Queen of Arabian Sea”. The Group is well known for its impeccable services, novel ideas, and diversified business activities. It now enjoys an enviable position among similar companies in the state. The reputation of the group is built on reliability and efficiency achieved by rendering excellent services for over two decades.
ACTIVITIES OF THE GROUP
ROYAL GROUP OF HOTELS
- Kerala has become one of the most sought after Tourist destinations of the world. Realising the growing potential of this sector, the Royal Group entered into the hospitality industry with its prestigeous project – Fort Munnar. Fort Munnar is a boutique luxury hotel in the hill station of Munnar, at an altitude of 6500 ft above sea level, amidst misty mountains and sprawling tea plantations.
- Royal Village, an ethnic village resort in the suburbs of Cochin, built under the concept of eco – friendly holidaying and THE FARM HOUSE, a heritage Tharavadu in the environs of the Royal Village, are the other hotel properties promoted by the Royal Group. These hotels cater to the needs of domestic and international tourists alike.
- The Royal Lady, a specially designed luxury yacht of the Royal Group, offers sight seeing cruises through the backwaters with an overnight stay on board the yacht.
- The Royal Cruise offers a scenic view of the traditional coastal and backwater lifestyle of Kerala.
ROYAL INDIAN HOLIDAYS
Royal Indian Holidays was started by the Royal Group as a Tour company, to tap the potential of the Tourism industry in India. Royal Indian Holidays offers a variety of tour packages to India, which are extremely popular in both the domestic and international market. This Tour Division excels in tailor – made packages to suit all seasons and to cater to the needs of all types of travelers. Personalized service and attention to detail are the strong points of the tour division of the group. They also maintain an excellent relation with all prominent hotels, tour operators and the media who project the image of the hotel industry and the tourism of the country to the world at large. Royal Indian Holidays specializes in Kerala Packages and offers unique experiences in the land of Kovilakams, Illams and Tharavadus. Rippling backwaters, serene lagoons, foam kissed sandy beaches and undulating eco rich hills make Kerala, \\\\\\\"Gods own country\\\\\\\". Royal Indian Holidays presents dream come-true getaway locations from exotic distant places to secluded spots within a city and more.
AVIATION
When the Indian sky opened to private air taxi operators, Royal Group was quick to grasp the business potential, which lead them to diversify their business into the field of Aviation. MODILUFT AIRLINES was one of the first private Airlines in India, who started their operations in technical and management partnership with the German carrier, Lufthansa. This premier domestic Airline in India appointed Royal Indian Lines as their GSA (General Sales Agents) for the state of Kerala. ModiLuft was well known for its superior services and on time performances. Similarly, NEPC AIRLINES which possessed the largest fleet of aircraft among private operators in India, consequent to its taking over of DAMANIA AIRWAYS, appointed Royal Indian Tours & Travels as their GSA for Kerala. NEPC AIRLINES operated in feeder routes in the country with 32 destinations and SKYLINE NEPC (previously DAMANIA Airways), operated in the main trunk routes connecting metropolitan cities. Royal Indian Cargo & Courier was the exclusive handling agent for the ModiLuft cargo in all the three major airports of Kerala during their period of operation. Royal Airport Services has been taking care of the airport handling services of the group in the airports in Kerala. It has emerged as one of the best airport handling agents in India by adhering to the principles of world class service and achieving minimum turn around time. Royal Indian Holdings Ltd., the flagship company, is well known for its services as the GSA for SAHARA AIRLINES in the State of Kerala. AIR SAHARA was accepted by all as one of the finest professionally managed private airlines in India with superior services and on time performances. Royal Indian Holdings was responsible for passenger and cargo handling, sale of tickets, training and recruitment of staff, marketing and all promotional activities for Air Sahara in the State of Kerala. Royal Tour & Travel Company is the IATA accredited Travel House of the group. It provides services of international standard in the field of airline, travel and ticketing. This travel division of the company arranges both domestic and international air tickets, taking care of even the minor details of the travel. The Company has an online computerized reservation system and an extremely good liaison with all major airlines and airport authorities.
EDUCATION
By the end of the 1980s, when new entrepreneurs with modern technology and international tie ups entered the Indian market, there was acute shortage of manpower in most of the fields. This situation prompted ROYAL GROUP to enter into the field of education. Thus was born School Of Engineering within a couple of years of its inception. This institution became one of the largest job oriented technical educational centres of its kind in the country with branches in Trivandrum, Cochin and Calicut. School of Engineering diversified into the Travel and Tourism industry with the establishment of the Management Division of the School. The management division of the school conducts specialized courses in Travel & Tourism Management, enabling them to handle any job in the travel and aviation industry. Computer courses and Marine Radio Officers Course were some of the other courses that the school offered to its students. Since the establishment of School of Engineering, the Royal Group has to its credit, more than two decades of experience in the field of education. Munnar Catering College - When the Govt. of Kerala identified Tourism as the most favoured industry in the state, many new entrepreneurs entered into the field by opening hotels and resorts of international standard. The Tourism industry in India grew in leaps and bounds with Kerala, popularly known as “God’s own country”, being named as one of the top ten destinations of the world. The tremendous growth of the Hospitality industry gave birth to the demand for qualified personnel in this field. The need of the hour was for trained hotel management professionals, who could service the growing demands of this industry. To cater to this industry, the ROYAL GROUP started MUNNAR CATERING COLLEGE at Munnar. Nestled in the beautiful hills of Munnar. This catering college with its five star facilities has become one of the premier institutions of its kind in India. Munnar Catering College is affiliated to the world’s largest educational institute in the hospitality industry - the Educational Institute of American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) and imparts courses as per their guidelines and syllabus. The courses are offered in the following subjects: The Front Office Management, Housekeeping Management, Food Production Principles, Food & Beverage Service and International Hotel Management. Munnar Catering College is also conducting three-year Degree and two year Postgraduate degree courses in Hotel Management and Catering Technology with affiliation to the renowned Punjab Technical University. In the year 2004, the College got approval from the All Indian Council of Technical Education (AICTE) New Delhi and The Government of Kerala to start a 3 Year Diploma Course in Hotel Management and Catering Technology. Based on this, the Munnar Catering College became first self financing Catering College in the state. Classes were started in association with the prestigious hill station luxury hotel Fort Munnar. In the year 2008, the College got the approval to conduct three year BA Degree in International Hospitality Administration. This prestigious degree is given by IGNOU, in association with the Educational Institute of American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA). Royal Community College: The latest feather in the cap of the educational wing of the Royal Group is the commencement of the Royal Community College. Based on the lines of the community college system of education in the United States of America, the Royal Community College is the first of its kind to be established in India under Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the first autonomous college in Kerala under IGNOU. The concept of Community College education – Empowering the nation through the community - is a system of education, which will provide the youth with an opportunity to educate themselves at an early age, in their chosen profession.
SHIPPING
When international air fares skyrocketed, the ROYAL GROUP took the initiative to start the first Passenger Shipping Service between India and the Arabian Gulf countries. The passenger ship service between India and Gulf countries was started by the Bahrain based TYLOS FERRY SERVICES with Royal Indian Shipping Lines as their Indian partner. The entire handling of inbound and outbound passengers and their cargo at Cochin Wharf was done by Royal Indian Shipping Lines. This service was a tremendous boon to the Indian expatriate community in the Gulf countries. When containerized cargo service had become the practice of the day, ROYAL GROUP took initiative to start the first private Container Freight Station in the harbour city of Cochin, with the approval of the Department of Customs, Ministry of Finance and the Govt. of India. Asian Terminals, the only container freight station in the Cochin Port area, came into existence offering services to Indian Exporters and Importers in areas like storage, stuffing and de-stuffing of cargo and transportation of export and import cargo.
ADVERTISING
The advertising division of the Group, Prayag Advertising, came into existence to handle in - house advertisements and to do public relations for the ROYAL GROUP OF COMPANIES. Prayag Advertising has become one of the leading advertising agencies in Kerala. They maintain a good rapport with all the leading newspapers and publications.
PLANTATION
Kerala is predominantly an agricultural state blessed with excellent geographical and climatic conditions suitable for the growth of spices and a variety of other agricultural commodities. The ROYAL GROUP is involved in the plantation of coffee and cardamom. The team of experienced staff at Thachankary Estates in Munnar take special care with all the stages of cultivation from selection of seedlings to the harvest, resulting in an excellent yield of quality spices considered superior to other local varieties. The superior variety of cardamom produced at the THACHANKARY ESTATES in Munnar is regarded as one of the best qualities available.
