MAM
BIAL, Karnataka Tourism and Thomas Cook India to launch Brand ‘Kaapi Trail’
BENGALURU: Taking a cue from the success of Scotland‘s ‘Scotch Trail‘, GVK‘s Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) in partnership with the Ministry of Karnataka and tour operator Thomas Cook (India) Ltd., announced the launch of ‘Kaapi Trail‘ (‘Kaapi‘ is the colloquial term for coffee) to attract tourism into South India and more specifically the places between Chikmaglur and Coorg in Karnataka.
The Kaapi Trail is a voyage of discovery of South India via the ‘Journey of the Coffee bean‘. Three travel packages for the tourist covering Leisure, Heritage and Adventure Trails have been created.
Thomas Cook India managing director Madhavan Menon said, “Kaapi Trail is different from ‘Incredible India.‘ South India has much to offer today‘s traveller who is hungry for unique and meaningful experiences. Thomas Cook will endeavour to implement ‘Kaapi Trail‘ in the travel brochure of every tour operator in the world.” he added.
“We believe that Kaapi Trail will help increase the popularity of the region as a much sought after travel destination. It is an attempt to put the coffee growing regions of South India on the global map, exposing travelers from across the world, to the taste, culture, heritage and overall rich experience associate with coffee,” said Karnataka State Tourism additional chief secretary Arvind Jadhav.
“We have so much to showcase to the world and make them aware of an entire new side of the region. It has been our intention to play a significant role in the economic development of the state by becoming a gateway to the South of India,” said BAIL managing director Sanjay Reddy.
Brands
Hemlata Sharma joins ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer
Former Zee Media distribution head to steer growth, partnerships and strategy
MUMBAI: Hemlata Sharma has joined ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer, bringing with her more than three decades of experience across television, telecom and media distribution.
Sharma most recently served as head distribution, research & CRM at Zee Media Corporation Limited, where she worked closely with editorial and senior management while overseeing distribution, consumer research and customer relationships for 14 news channels including Zee News, WION, Zee Hindustan and Zee Business, along with ten regional state channels.
In that role, she led nationwide distribution across platforms such as DTH, Hits, IPTV, cable networks and DD Free Dish. She also drove consumer research and strategic insights on a pan India scale, analysing content performance, anchor impact, programme slots and audience behaviour to guide editorial decisions and programming strategy.
Her portfolio also included managing one of the largest alliances with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited and overseeing the global distribution monitoring of Wion across North America, Mena, Europe, Africa, APAC and Australia.
Earlier, Sharma briefly served as head sales and distribution at Triplecom Media Pvt Ltd, an engagement driven OTT platform bringing together content, gaming, music and advertising for the entertainment distribution ecosystem.
Her earlier career includes a senior vice president stint at Ten Sports Network, where she played a key role in relaunching the sports broadcaster as an independent bouquet comprising Ten Sports, Ten Cricket, Ten Action and Ten Golf following the Zee takeover. During this period, she moved from vp west to head strategy for cable and dth and later national head retail distribution, helping build the network’s retail distribution vertical across India and launching dedicated golf and football channels.
Before that, Sharma spent over six years at Bharti Airtel as general manager operations for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. She initially led marketing and corporate communications before moving into sales leadership, where voice sales grew by 86 per cent and revenues by 96 per cent. She later headed business operations, expanding annual business volumes to Rs 100 crore while significantly reducing operational costs.
Sharma began her long association with the media distribution ecosystem at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited as regional head sales and distribution for central India. During that period, she played a role in the early rollout of pay television channels including Zee Cinema, HBO, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, while also contributing to the launch of Siti Cable in key central Indian cities.
With her new role at ONEOTT Broadband, Sharma is expected to focus on strengthening business strategy, expanding partnerships and driving growth across the company’s broadband and digital distribution ecosystem.
