MAM
Agoda honours over 200 Indian hotels with Gold Circle Awards
Platform celebrates top performers as international searches for India surge.
MUMBAI: When it comes to rolling out the red carpet for hotels, Agoda clearly knows how to make the awards feel golden especially when over 200 Indian properties are shining bright this year. Agoda has awarded more than 200 hotels across India in the 17th edition of its Gold Circle Awards, placing the country fourth globally in the number of awardees. The annual honours recognise properties that deliver consistently high guest standards, strong digital engagement and operational adaptability. This year’s winners were heavily concentrated in India’s top business-and-leisure hubs such as Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru.
Interest in travel to India has grown significantly among international travellers, with accommodation searches experiencing a 24-fold year-on-year increase. Searches from the United Arab Emirates rose 81 per cent compared with the previous year, while travellers from Malaysia, the United States and Singapore recorded 40 per cent growth.
This momentum coincides with the Government of India’s announcement at the South Asia Travel and Tourism Exhibition to double airport capacity, a move expected to strengthen international connectivity and unlock further hotel and tour demand as infrastructure scales up to meet tourism growth that is currently outpacing supply.
Agoda country director for the Indian Subcontinent and Indian Ocean Islands Gaurav Malik said the rising interest is a win for both the market and hoteliers. “It’s encouraging to see how quickly the ecosystem and its partners are rising to meet that demand. As connectivity improves and airport capacity expands, India is well positioned to welcome even more travellers and to showcase the incredible depth and variety of experiences the country has to offer,” he noted.
2025 Gold Circle Awards ranking by market (number of winners):
Globally, the 17th edition of Agoda’s Gold Circle Awards recognised over 3,000 hotel partners for excellence in operational performance and guest experience. Insights from Agoda’s “Tailored to Win” report further highlight that nearly 98 per cent of Indian hotels using advanced localisation strategies reported a positive impact on revenue, underscoring the importance of tailored content, payments and guest touchpoints in capturing both international and domestic demand.
In the race for travellers’ attention, it seems Indian hotels are not just keeping pace, they’re earning gold medals while doing so.
Brands
Ekart expands IKEA partnership with EV deliveries in Chennai
3PL to handle 600 plus products with 48 hour delivery via EV fleet.
MUMBAI: Flatpacks are going electric and your sofa might now arrive with a smaller carbon footprint. Ekart has expanded its partnership with IKEA to power last-mile deliveries in Chennai, doubling down on speed, scale and sustainability in one of India’s key urban markets. Under the collaboration, Ekart will manage end-to-end large-format deliveries for IKEA across the city using a 100 per cent dedicated electric vehicle fleet. The move makes Chennai the second major market after NCR-Delhi where Ekart handles IKEA’s last-mile logistics, signalling a broader rollout of EV-led supply chains.
The mandate is no small load. Ekart will oversee deliveries for over 600 products from IKEA’s catalogue, ranging from furniture to home décor—categories that demand specialised handling and precision logistics.
Backed by its technology-driven fulfilment network, Ekart is targeting deliveries within a 48-hour window, offering real-time tracking and end-to-end visibility from warehouse to doorstep. The focus is clear: faster turnarounds without compromising on control or customer experience.
The EV-first model also aligns with both companies’ sustainability goals, as urban logistics increasingly shifts towards zero-emission solutions. For IKEA, which continues to expand its omnichannel presence in India, reliable and eco-conscious last-mile delivery is becoming central to scale.
For Ekart, the partnership reinforces its positioning as an enterprise-grade logistics player in large-format commerce. The company already supports over 1,800 retail, D2C and enterprise brands, spanning last-mile delivery, part-truckload services and warehousing.
As India’s logistics ecosystem evolves, this collaboration highlights a growing trend: delivery is no longer just about distance, it’s about efficiency, experience and increasingly, emissions.
