hotelscapes april 2012

New Developments2 Crowne Plaza Rohini eyes events market

3 Courtyard by Marriott bets on the wedding segment

4 Oberoi Hotels summer offers focus more on family

5 Accor introduces Formule 1 in India

6 Park Hyatt opens its first property in Hyderabad

HICSA Report7-13 All about HICSA 2012

Newsmaker of the Month14 Carlson Rezidor and Bestech to open 49 Park Inns

New Entrants16 Rotana Hotels plans expansion in India

20 MGM Hospitality to bring its luxury brand of hotels

Trends22 New sleep techniques being practiced by hotels

The Brand and Business26 ITDC redefines its role in the Indian hospitality sector

27 Six Senses waiting to ride on the boom in India

28 Fortune Hotels to be 90 hotels strong by 2015

29 Neemrana Hotels on their formula for success

Signs of Our Times30-45 Experts from travel, tourism and hospitality

present their views on current trends

Hospitality Report46 A study on the hotel industry’s status by 2021

Guest Column49 Hoteliers shifting their focus on smaller cities

Events & Happenings50 Chandra Padmanabhan’s cook book launch at

The Imperial

51 The Lalit Unveils new luxury tower

People52 Appointments and movements across the country

Products54 New launches this season

News Snippets58 Latest news and updates from the industry

Volume 1 Issue 3 APRIL 2012

Editor: Navin S Berry Assistant Editor: Purva Bhatia Business Development: Sudhir SoodAdvertising: Saurabh Shukla Design: Ashok Saxena, Neelam Aswani

Hotelscapes is published and printed monthly by Navin Berry on behalf of Cross Section Media Pvt. Ltd.and printed at Anupam Art Printers B-52, Naraina, Phase II, New Delhi and published from IIIrd Floor,Rajendra Bhawan, 210, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi - 110002. Tel: 91-11-43784444;Fax: 91-11-41001627, 41001628. E-mail: [email protected] issue of hotelscapes contains 60 pages plus 4 pages cover

EDITOR’S NOTEIt’s that time of the year when the captains of the hotel industry come

together to be a part of Hotel Investment Conference South Asia (HICSA), theannual conference by HVS. The show, in its eighth year now, has grownsignificantly over the years. That’s not just because of the numbers. While it sawparticipation from over 600 delegates, it got some big names of the industrycoming in as speakers (like Donald Trump Jr., executive vice president, TheTrump Organisation). It had pertinent sessions like the one on social media,which saw participation from the country heads of Google and TripAdvisor. Theparticipation from global heads of international hotel giants reiterates the factthat India is an opportunity no big chain wants to miss. However, there arebottlenecks we cannot ignore – from shortage of skilled labour to the delays inconstruction and procuring licenses. The conference had session on theopportunities and challenges the market has for these global chains. We bringyou a summary of some of the prominent sessions in this issue. Also, we havethe luxury hospitality chain MGM Grand, and Rotana Hotels Management – bothpresent at HICSA – sharing their respective plans for India. We also have, in thisissue, experts from the travel, tourism and hospitality industry giving theirperspectives on ‘signs of our times’, that is, the current trends in the industry. Wecover a wide range of topics from state of heritage hotels to F&B and emergingtrends in social media to international hotel giant talking about opportunities inIndia. What’s more, there are hoteliers talking about their brands and thebusiness. Furthermore, we update you with significant events and developmentsfrom within the industry. Feel free to write to us with your feedback.

CONTENTS/EDITORIAL

April 2012 HOTELSCAPES

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Congrats on the launch. I’ve just seen it. Thanks for putting the information onsocial media. We marketers need more such information.

Alan D’Mello, Delhi

I recently saw the magazine. Must say it is a good read with interestinginterviews and articles.

Ashna Sabarwal, Noida

R E A D E R S W R I T E I N

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| HOTELSCAPES April 2012

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

One question that strikes you, instantaneously, on seeing the 183-rooms Crowne Plaza in north-west Delhi is: Why Rohini? Nalin

Mandiratta, the general manager has aready answer: “Business, so far, has beenconfined to central Delhi. However, nowthings are changing. There are different mi-cro-markets developing in the city like westDelhi, which is seeing rapid growth. The areais set to see even higher paced developmentonce metro connects airport line with Rohi-ni. So we will have first mover’s advantage inthis market.” The area has attracted invest-ment from other big hotel giants too.

The property is owned by Jaksons Devel-opers Pvt Ltd and managed under the brand‘Crowne Plaza’ by InterContinental HotelsGroup (IHG). Competing with Hilton NewDelhi Janakpuri and Radisson Blu PaschimVihar, Crowne Plaza in Rohini is marketing it-self as “North-West Delhi’s preferreddestination to meet and celebrate”. The hotelis targeting convention as well as events mar-ket, in which marriages and social functionswill constitute a substantial chunk. The hotelboasts of about 50,000 sq ft of conventionspace, one of the largest banqueting spaces inDelhi NCR, having a capacity of accommodat-ing up to 2,000 people. “The property is idealfor social functions, MICE as well as for leisuretravellers,” says Mandiratta. The group is bank-

With realty prices soaring inDelhi, action is shifting to thesuburbs and the satellite towns.In Rohini, for instance, whereIHG has opened Crowne Plazaeyeing the burgeoningconvention and events market.Nalin Mandiratta, generalmanager of the hotel talks aboutstrategy the brand has for themarket.

Business, so far, has beenconfined to central Delhi.However, now things are

changing. There aredifferent micro-markets

developing like west Delhi.The area is set to see evenhigher paced development

once metro connectsairport line with Rohini. Sowe will have first mover’sadvantage in this market.

NALIN MANDIRATTAGENERAL MANAGER

ing on the construction and development inthe area and aims to get business from the beltconstituting Sonepat, Kundli and Bhavani.

The location is also advantageous as it is amoneyed market. “The hotel gets 70% of its rev-enues from Food & Beverage thanks to theweddings and events market,” he adds. The ho-tel has four eating outlets: Spice Art, whichserves North Western Frontier cuisine; Mosaic,an all-day dining restaurant; Connexions offeringan ‘eclectic ambience’ and Deli, the pastry shop.The hotel has localised to cater to the needs ofthe market. “Vegetarians are high in number inthe area and also have an aversion to eggs so theentire selection of pastries is eggless. Also, wehave a juice bar and chat counter, which is be-coming popular among the locals,” he says. Thehotel plans to have food promotions and festi-vals to woo the non-residents. The hotel also hasa relaxation spa, Adya that specializes in Europe-an and Asian therapies and comprises oftherapy rooms, a unisex salon, a well-equippedgym and an outdoor swimming pool.

Designed by Thailand-based PIA Engi-neering & Associates, the hotel is rich in itsdesign features. Having the luxury of space,the property comprises twin towers sharing acommon basement. While the 15-storeyedtower is the hotel, the second 10-storeyedtower is office-cum-shopping complex hous-ing top brands. ■

by PURVA BHATIA

Crowne Plaza New Delhi, Rohini

EYEING A BIG SHARE IN AMICRO-MARKET


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Courtyard by Marriott, Mumbai International Airport

POSITIONING ITSELF AS ANIDEAL EVENTS VENUE

GAUTAM BHANDARIGENERAL MANAGER

Essentially being a businessproperty with corporatefunctionality, this is the

very first time we areventuring into the

weddings and socialsarena. With this year's

projections in mind, weexpect weddings to

contribute to 1/3rd of ourtotal revenues for the

year 2012.

In a city where space is luxury, this hotelstands out with its spacious interiors.Unlike other Courtyard properties in thecountry, this one offers expansive lobby

area, which appears enlarged also becauseof the use of white. Cashing-in on this luxury,the hotel, offering 12000 sq ft of meeting roomspace, is positioning itself as an ideal venuefor conventions as well as social functionsparticularly pre-wedding events. “Wedding isthe most important day of one's life. As peopleare increasingly looking at hotels as venuesfor weddings, it is a segment that is constantlygrowing. We are offering space as well asexpertise through our in-house eventmanagement team,” says the newly appointedgeneral manager, Gautam Bhandari.

Showcasing its potential for the same, thehotel recently hosted a Wedding Fair, bringingtogether different suppliers, ranging fromflowers and cards to photography,entertainment and DJ's' under one roof. Thefair was a one-stop shop for all the weddingneeds. The objective of the fair was to invitebookers and customers for a dekko andcollaborate with the in-house team for theevents and position itself as an ideal venue forevents and functions. "Essentially being abusiness property with corporate functionality,this is the very first time we are venturing intothe weddings and socials arena. With thisyear's projections in mind, we expect weddings

to contribute to 1/3rd of our total revenues forthe year 2012,” says Bhandari.

The hotel will be shortly introducing a rangeof wedding packages for couples - theexclusive Silver with Marriott RewardMembership, an appealing VIP Gold, andPlatinum. Currently, it offers food and beveragepackages that are customized to the occasion.

The hotel has 330 rooms (out of whichcurrently 292 are operational) & 16contemporary style Courtyard suites. It offerscatering options with its restaurants Red Zenand MoMo Cafe. It will soon open a spacompleting the needs of events market.

Courtyard by Marriott, Mumbai is alsobetting big on its F&B to woo the localmarket. It has recently introduced "PowerLunch" concept offering Bento Box lunchesto attract the corporate clientele from theneighbouring areas. Talking about the latesthappenings at the hotel, Bhandari says, “It isimportant to keep refreshing things for thecustomers to get them to keep coming back.It's a fresh approach and offering somethingnew that makes guests loyal.”

The hotel has the advantage of its location,which is the central business hub of NorthMumbai and is easily accessible by both ofMumbai's airports. The hotel, according toBhandari, sees 79-80% occupancy, whichconstitutes mainly corporate travellers. ■

by PURVA BHATIA

The hotel recentlyorganised a wedding fairand will soon beintroducing a slew ofpackages to tap thebooming weddingmarket. It expectsweddings to contributeover 30 per cent tooverall revenues thisyear.

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NEW DEVELOPMENTS

The Oberoi Group has launched spe-cial summer holidays offers to woodomestic travellers. The group aimsto see a growth in occupancies with

these packages. “We see a huge opportunity inthe domestic leisure market. To tap in to thepotential of this growing segment of business,we have created our summer offers which tar-get quality conscious travellers. Our objective isto create memorable experiences for guestswho stay at our beautiful award winning ho-tels,” said Hemant Mediratta, vice president,sales, The Oberoi Group.

The offers are valid at different Oberoiproperties including The Oberoi Amarvilas,Agra; The Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur, The OberoiUdaivilas, Udaipur and The Oberoi Vanyavil-as, Ranthambhore. The package includesdaily breakfast, complimentary two-way air-port or railway station transfers and a 15percent discount on spa therapies. Guestshave the option of adding lunch or dinner tothe package at an additional rate. Valid for aminimum of two nights, guests will be givenaccommodation in a Premier Room or in aLuxury Tent, depending on the property theychoose.

There are offers like getting the third roomcomplimentary on booking two rooms. If aguest stays three times in any of the propertiesin ensuing summer, he gets a room night com-plimentary anywhere in the world; for five stays

At an event held at OberoiGurgaon, The OberoiGroup announced a slewof offers to woo customersas well as its travelpartners. Also, the grouphonoured the travelagents with certificates ofappreciation for theircontribution in the lastfinancial year.

We see a huge opportunity inthe domestic leisure market.To tap in to the potential of

this growing segment ofbusiness, we have createdour summer offers whichtarget quality conscious

travellers. Our objective is tocreate memorable

experiences for guests whostay at our beautiful award

winning hotels.

HEMANT MEDIRATTAVICE PRESIDENT, SALES

he is entitled to two room nights.Also, there are a number of offers for kids

to attract families, for instance the offer of acomplimentary additional room for two chil-dren, up to 12 years of age at Rajvilas,Udaivilas, Amarvilas and Vanyavilas. "Ourinternal research says people are increasing-ly travelling with friends and family and insmall groups. Keeping that in mind we areoffering different packages at different prop-erties," says Mediratta. "We are also noticinga rise in weekend stays from the local mar-ket. We experimented that in Mumbai andsaw the interest, so we will be extendingthose as well," he adds.

The Oberoi Group launched offers at anevent at The Oberoi, Gurgaon, where SanjayRai, executive vice president, sales, TheOberoi Group and Hemant Mediratta, vicepresident, sales, The Oberoi Group unveiledthe special brochure in the presence ofexperts from travel, trade and tourismindustry. ■

Oberoi Hotels and Resorts

SUMMER OFFERS BEGIN, MOREFOCUS ON FAMILY HOLIDAYERS

Highlights…☛ Keeping in mind the interest offamilies, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts isoffering a complimentaryadditional room for two children,up to 12 years of age.

The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra


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The rooms are stylish and clean,equipped with quality bedding, flatscreen TVs and free wireless internet throughout the hotel. The am-

bience is ‘cool and cheerful’ and thecheck-in is available 24X7 – all of this at aprice of little over Rs 2000 per person at Ac-cor’s low-cost brand ‘Formule 1’. If the groupis to be believed the brand will be a gamechanger in the budget hotels segment, offer-ing “best budget rooms as per globalhospitality standards”.

“Accor is revolutionising the budget hotelsector. It’s an innovative budget hotel brandthat will promote the concept of standardrooms with a single price for up to three peo-ple,” says Philip Logan, vice presidentFormule 1 Hotels, India.

The first Formule 1 hotel will open nextmonth in Greater Noida, which is an IT andeducation hub. The hotel has 114 simplerooms offering essential comforts. “Formule1 presents a fresh approach to low-costIndian accommodation. Although a stan-dardized brand, it has scope for localisation.In fact, there are several elements modifiedfor the Indian market,” equips Logan. Forexample, the rooms have enclosed bath-room, 25% rooms with bunk beds offeringtriple sharing, iron and ironing board, soapbar and shower gel. Indians, says Logan,tend to travel with a lot of luggage, so unlikein any other Formule 1 hotels in the world,the ones in India will have luggage trolleysand space under the bed.

The F&B at the hotel is outsourced. TheGreater Noida property has a Café Buddyoutlet along with Swagath, a local restaurantbrand. According to Logan outsourcing re-

duces the cost for the hotel, the benefit ofwhich is passed on to the guests.

The group is optimistic about the brand’sgrowth in India. Accor already has 380 For-mule 1 hotels in 14 countries. In India, thegroup plans to open 10 more properties bythe end of 2013 in India. Besides, the For-

Accor is revolutionisingthe budget hotel sector.It’s an innovative budget

hotel brand that willpromote the concept ofstandard rooms with a

single price for up to threepeople. Formule 1

presents a fresh approachto low-cost Indianaccommodation.

PHILIP LOGANVICE PRESIDENT

In keeping with itsexpansion plans in India,Accor has launched itsbudget brand –Formule 1.

Accor Formule 1

A NEW BENCHMARKIN BUDGET SEGMENT

Highlights…☛ Facilities include flat screenTVs with extra channels andfree wireless internetthroughout the hotel

☛ Other in-room facilitiesinclude quality bedding withduvets, ensuite bathroom,individually controlled air-conditioning and a work table.

☛ Rooms will have luggagetrolleys and space under thebed for people who tend totravel with a lot of luggage.

mule1 property in Greater Noida, Accor isin process of opening Formule1 hotels inPune, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad by theend of this year. “We are confident of thebrand being a game changer in the Indianmarket. The segment hasn’t matured as yetin India. The question everyone seems to beasking is when this segment will go interna-tional. We are offering fixed price productwith standardized room and consistency inservice,” asserts Logan.

A budget brand, Formule 1 is differentfrom Accor’s economy brand – ibis. Theroom size is smaller and F&B, as mentionedabove, is outsourced. “As you come downthe value chain, services reduce but the ex-perience in the room makes up for it,”explains Logan. ■

by PURVA BHATIA

6


NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Hyatt Hotels has announced theopening of Park Hyatt Hydera-bad, the first city Park Hyatthotel in India. Located in the

heart of the upscale Banjara Hills neighbour-hood, the hotel targets business travellersand local guests. The hotel also offers 42 ful-ly serviced luxury apartments – The Residence,with five-star facilities and amenities.

“Park Hyatt hotels are premium luxuryhotels designed to cater to the discerningindividual seeking privacy, personalised ser-vice and luxurious elegance of acontemporary hotel,” said Sven Hoffmeyer,general manager of Park Hyatt Hyderabad.“This new hotel will maintain the brand’semphasis on art and culinary excellencewith locally inspired artwork in the publicareas and a signature restaurant headed byexperienced chefs. I am delighted that themajority of our associates have been recruit-ed from other Hyatt hotels, which will ensurethat our guests receive an authentic and truePark Hyatt experience during their stay inHyderabad,” he added.

The modern, eight-story Park Hyatt Hyder-abad includes 185 guestrooms and 24 Suiteson the first six floors with 42 service apart-ments on the two uppermost floors. Thestylish and contemporary interiors featureIndian motifs inspired by henna patterns,while silk and vibrant colours add a sari-in-spired element to the decor.

The restaurants at Park Hyatt Hyderabadare designed with interactive show kitchens.Tre-Forni, the hotel’s signature restaurant,prepares Italian dishes and offers communaltraditional Italian-style dining as well as aprivate dining room. Dining Room offers

The hotel aims to stand-out in this clutteredmarket with its serviced luxury apartments-The Residence-a first in the city.

Park Hyatt

OPENS ITS FIRSTPROPERTY INHYDERABAD

The hotel will maintain thebrand’s emphasis on art and

culinary excellence withlocally inspired artwork in thepublic areas and a signature

restaurant headed byexperienced chefs. The

majority of our associateshave been recruited from

other Hyatt hotels, which willensure that our guests receivea true Park Hyatt experience.

SVEN HOFFMEYERGENERAL MANAGER

Hyderabadi dishes and classic Europeanfavourites. For a light bite to eat, The LivingRoom is the best option. The friendly andwarm Oriental Bar and Kitchen is best forSoutheast Asian comfort snacks.

With treatments inspired by the royal

Nizams of Hyderabad, The Spa offers hotelguests and local residents an enticing bou-quet of result-oriented beauty and wellnesstherapies. The Spa offers other amenities in-cluding a Swedish sauna, steam room,beauty salon, and a fitness centre featuring atemperature-controlled swimming pool andthe latest gym and cardio equipment.

Meetings and EventsPark Hyatt Hyderabad is the first hotel inIndia to feature Hyatt's innovative residential-style meeting concept. Named The Manor,amenities for meetings and events at the ho-tel offer small and mid-sized groups apersonal, tailor-made meetings or events ex-perience aided by a dedicated EventsService team. The hotel also has a pillar-lessballroom that can be divided into three dif-ferent spaces, a pre-function area, and sevenmeeting rooms, each equipped with the lat-est technology, high-speed internet accessand audiovisual systems.

The ResidenceThe city’s first five-star serviced apartments at-tached to a hotel, The Residence at Park HyattHyderabad, offers an exclusive “home awayfrom home” experience with a wide range ofservices and facilities. The fully furnished apart-ments are spacious, bright and airy with highceilings and city or atrium views. The apart-ments have fully-equipped kitchens, stylishfurniture and complimentary wireless Internet.All apartments are fully furnished and all thehotel facilities are accessible to guests of TheResidence. Private Chefs “on request” are alsoavailable for parties. ■

compiled by APRAJITA SHISHOO


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HICSA REPORT

Hotel Investment ConferenceSouth Asia – the platform thatgets hoteliers, developers, bankers, investors and consultants to-

gether to discuss and deliberate onchallenges and opportunities in the Indianhospitality sector – got bigger in its 8th edi-tion. It saw over 600 participants, including155 international and overwhelming 108women delegates.

At a time when the global economic cri-sis is impacting travel and tourism industryworldwide, India continues to be an attrac-tive market for international hotel giants tomake investments. However, even as thereare opportunities in all segments, (from bud-get to upper upscale and luxury in not justthe metros but also in smaller town and cit-ies) there are bottlenecks that slacken thepace of growth and development. Findingthe right partner for franchise or manage-ment is imperative for a healthy long term

The eighth edition of Hotel Investment Conference South Asia (HICSA) 2012organised by HVS India concluded in Mumbai highlighting the challenges,opportunities and trends in Indian hospitality sector. Hotelscapes gets

you the details of key discussions at the conference.

growth. HICSA 2012 highlighted all of theseconcerns and more. It underlined the signsof times and also put forth the way forwardfor the industry.

What’s attracting global chains toIndia?Picture this: hospitality giant, Carlson Rezi-dor, as reported in the magazine, has tied upwith Bestech to get a stronger foothold in themarket. It will invest Rs 210 crore to open 49mid-scale Park Inn by Radisson hotels inNorth and Central India by 2024. US-basedInterstate Hotels & Resorts has announcedthat the company has expanded its signedand managed hotels portfolio in India to 13.Accor plans to have 90 hotels in the countryby 2015.

Clearly, international hotel chains arebetting big on the opportunity that Indiaholds. The firms unanimously seem to agreethat India is more profitable for them than

the international market. According toHubert Jolly, president & CEO, CarlsonRezidor Group, India currently contributes 5per cent to Carlson’s global revenues and by2015 India would constitute 25 per cent oftotal global pipeline and 7 per cent of ourglobal revenues.

The opportunities, thanks to a rising mid-dle class and a huge demand-supply gap, aretremendous and everyone is eager to havetheir share in this fast growing pie. “The dy-namics are favourable and there isn’t enoughsupply, there is space for several competitors– larger the market, better it is for everyone.With the emergence of middle class, budgetand mid-market will be biggest in comingyears. Low cost flights are changing the pro-files of travellers so we’ll see moreinternational travel. We have a brand for ev-eryone,” said Dennis Hennequin, chairmanand CEO, Accor.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts, which has a

HICSA 2012:

8


HICSA REPORT

HICSA Hotels Awards 2012

HICSA Hotels Awards acknowledge outstanding new hoteldevelopments in the South Asian region in the past year.The winners are selected by delegates through an onlinevoting system.

This year, a total of five hotels were awarded in differentsegments, Vivanta by Taj, Bekal (in addition to Best Upscape Leisureaward) received Critics' Choice Award for creating and investing ina new destination.

“The HICSA Hotels of the Year Awards has evolved over theyears to become a recognised and coveted platform. The awardsare a reflection of the burgeoning growth of the Indian hospitalityindustry and recognise the quality of accommodation productsacross different hotel segments. It is notable that these productshave witnessed enormous diversification based on their targetmarket in the past five years. This is evident from the fact that the

HOTEL SEGMENT AWARDEE

Luxury / Upper Upscale The Oberoi, Gurgaon

Upscale - Business Sheraton Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway

Upscale - Leisure Vivanta by Taj Bekal, Kerala

Mid-Market Novotel Varun Beach, Visakhapatnam

Budget ibis Mumbai Airport, Mumbai

awards were conferred upon five hotel segments this year,” saidManav Thadani, MRICS, Chairman, HVS – India and Chairman,HVS Sustainability Services.

The panel of judges for the HICSA 'Hotels of the Year Awards2012' included Manav Thadani, Chairman, HVS India andChairman, HVS Sustainability Services, HVS South Asia; AshishJakhanwala, Chief Executive Officer and MD, SAMHI; Homi Aibara,Partner, Mahajan and Aibara; Akshay Kulkarni, Executive DirectorSouth Asia, Cushman and Wakefield Hospitality; Navneet Bali, ChiefInvestment Officer, Duet India Hotels and Ritu Bhatia Kler,Managing Director, Total Integrated Design.

Luxury Upper Upscale Segment – The Oberoi Gurgaon

Upscale Segment Business – Sheraton Bangalore Hotel Brigade Gateway

Budget Segment – Ibis Mumbai AirportMid Market Segment – Hotel Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach

Upscale Segment Leisure - Vivanta By Taj Bekal Kerala

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HICSA REPORT

joint venture with JHM Hotels in India, saidit sees opportunity in upper upscalesegment. “We are an international playerand we’ve been around for over 50 years.We believe the growth is in the emergingmarkets. We enter a market only if we havea good local partner like we have JHM here.We have the management expertise whichcan be realised to full potential with a localpartner,” said Jim Abrahamson , CEO,Interstate Hotels and Resorts. “Our focuswill be on upscale and upper upscale

hotels. We have a great pipeline in place;we can grow to 100 hotels in five years. Thegreatest opportunity is in upscale mid-market category. The luxury market hasonly little opportunity in India and budgetsegment doesn’t make sense to us.”

Challenges GaloreDespite the opportunities, there are severalissues that hinder the process of growth. Themajor challenges are in the domains of hu-man resources (in terms of skill and

knowledge base), land acquisitions, and ap-proval or licenses process in India. Also,grooming and developing suitable humanresources for the industry is a huge chal-lenge. There is a big gap in this segment, withdearth of good colleges and lack of qualitytraining. The gestation period for setting up ahotel in India is significantly more than theglobal norm and the sector has to incur high-er costs. “The issue is that the sector lacksgovernment support as it is considered anelitist sector,” pointed out Nakul Anand, ex-ecutive director, ITC Limited.

Rotana Hotel Management, which hasbeen eyeing a presence in India says landacquisition is the biggest challenge. “Landacquisition is a big challenge; there are delaysin construction and completion which resultsin increase in costs creating problems for bothoperators as well as developers. I’d like to seesome progress there to build properties intime,” said Selim El Zyr, president and CEO,Rotana Hotel Management Corporation.

Agreed Michael Issenberg, chairmanand COO APAC, Accor, “The challenge ofland acquisition is huge. We have been inand out of India a few times but want to getit right this time. We have learnt a lot aboutthe market; one needs to put more focus onconstruction than development.”

US real estate tycoon Donald Trump hasbeen looking for an opportunity to build lux-ury homes and hotels in India for long. “Thebiggest difficulty is assessing who’s real andwho’s not. Everyone is so entrepreneurialthat it’s difficult to assess and find the rightpartner.

The issues notwithstanding, India is animportant market that holds tremendous po-tential. “This is really India’s time. In next15-20 years, India will be equal to if not ex-ceed China’s potential. We have been luckyto have found the right partner and we havebig plans for the market,” said Gamal Aziz,president and CEO, MGM Hospitality.

Anand feels the necessary boom in themarket will come only when the domesticmarket starts staying in hotels. “Right nowIndian families travel mostly to places wherethey can stay with their family or friends ex-cept for pilgrimage tourism. The tippingpoint will be when the middle class startsstaying in hotels,” he said.

Technology & Social MediaSocial media has greatly impacted the waybrands and customers communicate with

The HICSA Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an individual, who hasmade an outstanding contribution to the hospitality industry. This year HICSA ho-noured Inder Sharma, former chairman and MD, Sita World Travel “for redefiningthe Indian travel landscape by creating new standards of excellence.”

Sharma’s career spans over five decades and he is often referred as The Travel Manof India. His first assignment was as a transfer assistant with Mercury Travels at Rs 150per month. “But it was the only offer I had and I decided to accept it with both handswithout thinking about future prospects,” said Sharma. During that period, he got se-lected for training with SITA World Travels. His business acumen helped him set upoffices in India and abroad. He later went on to become the owner of SITA Travels.Under Sharma’s leadership, SITA emerged as a brand synonymous with travel in In-dia. While he received several awards for his outstanding contribution to theindustry, he became the first person in tourism to be awarded Padma Shri.

“I am honoured and humbled... and doubly delighted to get this award from aperson who I hold in highest regard – Deepak Parekh, one of the finest Indians.There’s always a woman behind every man’s success and I do recognise the contri-bution my wife has made in my life and my two children who have dealt with meand my idiosyncrasies,” said Sharma.

Inder Sharma ConferredLifetime Achievement Award

10


each other. Customers are increasingly mak-ing purchase decisions based on reviews andupdates on social networking sites. Hoteliershave realised the importance of integratingsocial media into the overall marketing mix.“The critics of yesteryears have been re-placed by social networking sites.Consumers now rely on the reviews byfriends and family on social media to makepurchase decisions,” said Arjun Baljee,founder and MD, Peppermint Hotels.

Nikhil Nath, founder and CEO,Knowcross Solutions, “Before the internetera, people relied on friend’s opinion. Socialmedia has amplified space and taken awaythe distance. For example, if one puts a sta-tus on Facebook saying he’s planning a tripto Paris, there are instant and detailed re-sponses in no time! TripAdvisor has showed

HICSA REPORT

how people rely on advices gives by fellowguests or customers.”

Vikas Agnihotri, industry director BFSIand Travel, Google India explains the phe-nomena. “Our study and research suggeststhat it starts with consumers dreaming abouta particular product or service. This is fol-lowed by searching about it online, which isfollowed by planning. Finally, it comes to ex-periencing, which is about delivering whatsocial media promises.”

TripAdvisor, the travel website that com-piles reviews from customers, has made a bigimpact in the space. Julio Bruno, globalvice president sales, TripAdvisor advised:“Social media is a part of our daily lives. Ourconsumer today is looking at all forms of me-dia. Every hotelier should make optimal useof web, social media and manage reputation

through these. If you don’t engage with con-sumers, you’ll miss out on the opportunity.”However, there can be a doubt or suspicionas it could be a competitor writing a negativereview or the brand paying a blogger to talkup. “Consumers are increasingly becomingdiscerning. So, they have the acumen toknow if it’s a fact or not,” said Nath.

Tapping Tier II and Tier III citiesHoteliers have a general consensus on theburgeoning opportunities in Tier II and IIIcities. With soaring land costs in Tier I citiesand demand growing in smaller towns, do-mestic as well as international giants aremaking a beeline to cash-in on the opportu-nity. Key factors supporting growth in thesecities include reasonable land costs, limitedhotel supply, healthy demand patterns led

L-R: Vimal Singh, Golden Tulip Hotels; Ajay Bakaya, executive director,Sarovar Hotels; Dilip Puri, MD, Starwood Hotels India; delegate;

Jean Michelle Cassé, Accor Hotels India.Dinesh Khanna, executive director, Novotel Juhu Beach; Arvind Singhji

of Mewar, HH Udaipur; and Sunder Advani, CMD, Advani Hotels.

Amitabh Kant, CEO & MD, DMICDC; Ankur Bhatia, executive director, BirdGroup; Arjun Sharma, MD, Le Passage to India; Priya Paul, chairperson,Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels; Vikram Madhok, MD, Abercrombie and Kent India and Sunder Advani, CMD, Advani Hotels.


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HICSA REPORT

How Incredible is India?Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC Ltd. delivered the keynote address where he listed out the

key concerns, he highlighted the opportunity India presents. Here’s an excerpt:“Customers today are increasingly becoming discerning, demanding and even unreasonable.

However, it is important to please them especially if you are in the service industry. Evidently, theservice sector is the driver of growth. 30% of the total employment and 50% of FDI comes to theservice sector. Yet one can’t help ask: What happened to the Incredible India? It was initially con-ceived to promote tourism but unfortunately with economic crisis, India’s GDP subsided...

The fact remains that domestic demand is huge, so much so, that it cannot be met internally.Travel and tourism sector needs strong support. Also, we need to stop being armchair critics.CK Prahlad has envisioned India at 75. We should have a positive attitude. There should be avision for this sector for over 10 years.

Like many service industries, there is a challenge of retaining staff. The battle is not in get-ting customers but in retaining talent. Land acquisition in India is a nightmare; the act is archaicand there’s faulty land politics.

It is startling that Indians are 8th biggest spenders abroad but extremely price conscious whenspending in India while travelling.

mostly by domestic visitation, and strongeconomic and infrastructural growth.

Pushpendra Bansal, promoter, LordsInn hotels opined that the next big successstories will come out of smaller cities. Cur-rently, the group owns 7 properties, andmanages eight more properties under theLords banner. The group aims to cross 20properties by year end.

Three star mid-market value hotel chain Pre-mier Inn would like to open hotels in smallertowns. The group is optimistic about the oppor-tunity in India. “The first phase focussed onsecuring sites for acquisition and developmentfor getting into the market, testing the productand showing that we are a serious player. Hav-ing established the brand we have now enteredour second phase of development where wewant to invest strategically primarily through

asset light models by managing hotels on be-half of owners,” said Aly Shariff, managingdirector, Premier Inn India.

In 2006, Berggruen Holdings, a New-Yorkbased investment fund entered India to setup Keys Hotels, a value-for-money hotelchain in India. Today, it has a mixed bag ofboth owned sites as well managementcontracts. Asked whether the returns, in thismarket, are favourable, Sanjay Sethi,managing director and CEO of Keys Hotels:“The cost of construction remains more orless constant everywhere. The economies ofthese cities allow you to generate revenues.”

The hotels have to adapt to cater to theneeds of smaller towns and cities. “The cus-tomer in these towns,” said Vimal Singh, MDSouth Asia, Golden Tulip Hotels & Resortsand Louvre Hotels, “has different expecta-

tions than from what he has from hotels inTier I cities. He is prepared to expect less inthe smaller cities. However, the basics stillhave to be delivered. Service levels are im-portant.” “Even when you go down pricepoints, service expectations do not godown,” said Rahul Pandit, president andCOO, The Lemon Tree Hotels.

There are several challenges in operatingin these towns, shortage of skilled manpow-er topping the list. However, Tier II and IIIcities offer spending power and low penetra-tion cost. While growth of hospitality sectorin the country’s Tier II and Tier III cities is setto become the next big trend, the market isdifficult and flexibility is the key to survival.Hoteliers say it important to stay invested inlong term. ■

by PURVA BHATIA

Among other delegates, Suresh Kumar, president, Fortune Hotels(second from left) and S.P. Jain, MD, Pride Hotels (second from right)

L-R: Nakul Anand, executive director, ITC Hotels withRajiv Kaul, president, Leela Hotels.

L-R: Nakul Anand, executive director, ITC Hotels withRajiv Kaul, president, Leela Hotels.

12


HICSA REPORT

Manav Thadani

THE POWER OF ADVICEBY A TRUSTED ADVISOR

HVS entered Asia fifteen years agowith the opening of its New Del-hi office, and over the years thecompany has developed a repu-

tation of the “Go To” hospitality consultingfirm in the region. I was at the right place atthe right time and was fortunate to receivethe right advice from individuals, whom Iconsider my mentors in the Indian hotel in-dustry. As a young entrepreneur, I thought ofthese mentors as my “trusted advisors” and tobecome one was a goal I set for myself veryearly in my career. Today, I am proud to say

that not only have I been successful in attain-ing my goal, but also translating it as thedriving force behind the organisational cul-ture within HVS India; a trusted advisor tomany stakeholders of the hospitality industryin South Asia. “The Power of Our Advice” hasresulted in several dreams being realisedright from hotels being built to them ex-changing hands.

Over the years there have been numerousinstances where the relationship betweenme/my colleagues and our clients has turnedinto one of friendship and trust, where opin-

ions are shared openly and candidly. Mostimportantly, our clients recognise that wevalue giving the “right advice” as much asthey gain from receiving it. Nothing can ex-emplify this better than the fact that some ofour most loyal clients, from amongst the 900projects we have done so far in India, are theones whom we advised against developingtheir initial hotel projects. It is this group ofpeople, who perhaps send HVS the mostnumber of referrals because they know thatin us they have a trusted advisor – an advisorwho isn’t afraid to tell its clients the truth,

HVS celebrated the global premier of a short film titled “Power ofAdvice”, in which the world’s leading hospitality CEOs discussed the

importance of giving and receiving advice, and the roleadvice has played in their careers.


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HICSA REPORT

When do you know that you are a trusted advisor?

even if it is something they don’t necessarilywant to hear.

Last summer when our executive searchpartners around the world started produc-tion of a film called the “Power of Advice”,I realised that becoming a trusted advisorwas not a feat achieved by my team alone,but was also common to many HVS part-ners globally. In fact, Steve Rushmore,founder and president of HVS, is often re-ferred to as the “Hotel Guru” in the UnitedStates. When he advises, the Global CEOsaround the table listen; and this is what thepower of advice is all about. Your credibil-ity and knowledge, built over many yearsthrough sincere efforts and a hunger tolearn, makes key decision makers turn toyou for guidance.

At HICSA today, HVS celebrates the glo-bal premier of a short film titled “Power ofAdvice”, in which the world’s leading hospi-tality CEOs discuss the importance of givingand receiving advice, and the role advicehas played in their careers. The film followstwenty hospitality CEOs through HongKong, London, New York and Las Vegas asthey oversee their global organisations. Dur-ing this journey, the movie reveals themes

Over the years there have been numerous instances where therelationship between me/my colleagues and our clients has turnedinto one of friendship and trust, where opinions are shared openlyand candidly. Most importantly, our clients recognise that we valuegiving the “right advice”.

that include:● Being big enough to solicit advice● Whether it is really lonely at the top● The role of intuition and gut instinct in de-cision-making● The importance of understanding what it isyou don’t know● The role of advice in teams and the quali-ty of your people● The fact you have to learn how to give advice● That good advice makes you think andgain a perspective● That telling the truth is essential● And the DNA of a good advisor

Cast● Stephen Alden, CEO, Maybourne HotelGroup

● Gamal Aziz, President & CEO, MGMHospitality● Raymond Bickson, Managing Director &CEO, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces● Winnie Chiu, President, KosmopolitoHotels International Limited● Eric Danziger, President & CEO,Wyndham Hotel Group● Patrick Fitzgibbon, Sr. Vice PresidentDevelopment - Europe & Africa, HiltonWorldwide● Laurence Geller, President & CEO,Strategic Hotels & Resorts● Steven R. Goldman, CEO, Groupe duLouvre● Peter Henley, President & CEO, OnyxHospitality● Dr. Jim Houran, Partner – North America,HVS Executive Search● Patrick Imbardelli, President & CEO, PanPacific Hotels Group● Keith Kefgen, CEO, HVS Executive Search● Richard Leonard, Managing Director,Angelo Gordon & Company● Michael A Leven, President & COO, LasVegas Sands● Simon Naudi, Director, Corinthia Group● Martin Rinck, Area President - AsiaPacific, Hilton Wolrdwide● Steve Rushmore, Chairman & Founder, HVS● Barry Shier, CEO, Partner House● Kathleen Taylor, President & CEO, FourSeasons Hotels & Resorts● Jonathan M. Tisch, Chairman and ChiefExecutive Officer, Loews Hotels Co-Chairman of the Board and Office of thePresident, Loews Corporation● Simon Turner, President, GlobalDevelopment – Starwood Hotels & ResortsWorldwide● Paul Whetsell, President & CEO, LoewsHotels● Paul White, Former CEO, Orient ExpressHotels ■

by MANAV THADANI

☛ When clients call you, not theother way around.☛ When clients stop negotiating onprice, and start negotiating on price/value.☛ When you get invited to clientoutings and private social gatherings.☛ When you stop talking and startlistening.☛ When you think of your client’sbest interests before your own.☛ When you take pride in yourclient’s accomplishments before yourown.☛ When you are willing to say no toa fee because you can’t deliver oryou don’t believe in the’client.☛ When your advice means morethan a boilerplate report.☛ When you can measure theimpact of your advice.

☛ When you get to pick your clients,instead of clients picking you.☛ When reporters want youropinion.☛ When people seek you out as amentor.☛ When teaching becomes moreimportant than preaching.☛ When you are willing to say, “Idon’t know.”☛ When empathy trumps sympathy.☛ When you can say that you trulylove what you do for a living.☛ When clients are willing to giveunsolicited references.☛ When you are willing to tell yourclient “no.”☛ When you see possibilities insteadof roadblocks.☛ When you inspire instead of direct.

Source: Keith Kefgen, CEO HVS Executive Search, HotelMag.com Blog.

14


Carlson Rezidor and Bestech Join Hands to Open

49 NEW GENERATIONPARK INNS BY RADISSON

NEWSMAKER OF THE MONTH

Carlson Rezidor and Bestech Hospi-tality have come together to caterto the growing demands of theburgeoning middle class in the

country. Both the hospitality groups signeda strategic partnership to develop 49 ParkInns by Radisson Hotels. These hotels will bedeveloped across Northern and Central Indiaby 2024. With this strategic alliance, CarlsonRezidor plans to introduce new generationPark Inns by Radisson with a strong focus onthe growing middle-class.

In a joint press conference, both thecompanies announced their plans to devel-op these properties, which would be

full-service mid market hotels and they to-gether would invest $ 42 million on the firsttwo properties, Park Inn by Radisson in Gur-gaon Sector 88 and Park Inn by RadissonChandigarh, Mohali. According to SimonBarlow, president, Carlson Rezidor HotelGroup, Asia-Pacific, “These hotels will notbe budget or economy hotels, but will caterto a mid-market segment.” Continuing fur-ther Barlow said that the emergence of themiddle class as a strong category is the rea-son for this investment, the middle class inIndia is expected to grow from 170 millionin 2010 to close to 600 million by 2025, thegovernment is spending on infrastructure

India is the first country in Asia-Pacific where Carlson Rezidor will introducethe new generation of Park Inn. The group is betting on the growing

demand for affordable mid-maket hotels.

and the domestic travel is on increase. Thedemand for modern yet affordable accom-modation will be on the rise and thus theinvestments in the properties. Another rea-son for the strategic alliance is that thedemand of the domestic market clearly out-weighs the potential of the internationalmarket. Stressing further on the same point,Barlow said that, India’s potential lies a lotin the family market and the new genera-tion Park Inns have been designed toappease the family market. For instance,along with a bed, there is an option of asofa bed, so when a family comes and staysat the hotel, they don’t have to opt for a new

(Standing) L-R: Gordon Mckinnon, chief branding officer, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group; Simon Barlow, president, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, AsiaPacific and K.B. Kachru, executive vice president, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, South Asia. (Sitting) L-R: Dharmendra Bhandari, MD, Bestech

Hospitalities; Hubert Jolly, president, CEO and director Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group and Sunil Satija, MD, Bestech Hospitalities.


| 15

NEWSMAKER OF THE MONTH

Carlson Rezidor Hotels in India2012 In Pipeline Total Hotels 2012

Operation (Operational Expectedand In Pipeline) openings

Radisson 24 21 45 9

Country Inn and Suites 15 12 27 2

Park Plaza 10 11 21 2

Park Inn by Radisson 3 4 7* 1

Total 52 48 100 14

*It excludes the 49 Par Inn by Radisson with Bestech Hospitalities

room or an extra bed, a sofa bed solves theproblem.

The two properties in Gurgaon and Chandi-garh will be 200 keys and 160 keys respectivelyand both of them will be operational by 2015-16. The Park Inn by Radisson Gurgaon willhave approximately 9,000 sq m of built up areaand will have excellent visibility from the pro-posed 150 m wide Dwarka expressway. Thesite for the Chandigarh property has been stra-tegically chosen and is just 3 km away from theunder-construction international airport atMohali and has excellent road connectivitywith Ludhiana and Jalandhar.

When asked how they will tackle theproblems, like skilled manpower, while set-ting up these hotels, KB Kachru, exec.vice presdent, South Asia, Carlson Rezidor,replied saying that the group has tied upwith few hotel schools. According to HVS,the country would need 180,000 hotelrooms and more than 40% of these are ex-pected to be in the mid-scale segment. “Wedid a major study before we decided toopen these new generation Park Inns. Indiais the first country in Asia Pacific where wehave introduced the new generation ofPark Inn by Radisson, and the major rea-sons for this is the growing demand foraffordable accommodation, increase in thedomestic travel by middle class, the needfor right mid-scale brand that fits well withIndia’s emerging middle class,” said SimonBarlow. ■

by APRAJITA SHISHOO

Exclusive territorialagreement with Bestch inNorth and Central IndiaNORTH INDIA STATES☛ Jammu & Kashmir☛ Himachal Pradesh☛ Chandigarh☛ Punjab☛ Uttarakhand☛ Haryana☛ Delhi (NCR)☛ Rajasthan☛ Uttar Pradesh

CENTRAL INDIA STATES☛ Madhya Pradesh☛ Chhattisgarh

Source: HVS

Source: HVS

16


Tell us briefly about Rotana HotelManagement CorporationRotana has grown to become the largest hos-pitality management company in the MiddleEast and Africa region (MEA). Our brandsare not only widely recognised, but alsomuch admired across the MEA and in ourfeeder markets. Rotana’s strategic develop-ment is orchestrated by a team ofprofessionals, who have exceptional interna-tional experience and a fundamentalunderstanding of the cultures and communi-ties of each country where we operate.

Until recently our strategic focus has been

to have a property located in every countryin the MEA; this plan is on track. Our portfo-lio has increased from 2 in 1993 to 78 by2012. This impressive growth in the numberof Rotana properties is powered by a consis-tency in ‘getting it right’ first time, every time.

With our MEA network well consolidated,we have recently set in motion a roadmap toexpand our brand footprint across additionalregions and within these regions certain spe-cific countries where we believe we will beable to bring high value returns to propertyowners/developers whilst delivering the best-in-class standards of hospitality to our guests.

We have been able to achieve such suc-cess within a relatively short period of timeby offering the best-in-class international hos-pitality standards which have been perfectlyblended in with the essence of traditionalArabian hospitality.

Rotana is a multi-brand hospitality man-agement company, operating the followingfour main brands:

Rotana Hotels & Resorts are full-serviceupscale and upper-upscale hotels & resortslocated in key business centre locations andsublime resort locations, respectively. With awide range of services and facilities housed

Rotana Hotels

PLANS EXPANSION ININDIA; WILL ADD

ANOTHER OFFICE SOONRotana Hotels, Middle East and North Africa based hotel management company

is eyeing growth in the Indian market. A multi-brand company, it offers hotelsin different categories from full-service upscale to hotel apartments.

Aman Aditya Sachdev, senior VP – India, Rotanatalks about the brand and the plans for India.


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NEW ENTRANTS

under this brand umbrella, Rotana Hotels &Resorts offer the highest standards of luxuryand convenience to the discerning traveller.The brand’s success is founded on its operat-ing property portfolio and on its ability toattract some of the most renowned names inthe restaurant world.

Centro Hotels by Rotana meets the de-mands of a new generation of traveller,seeking finesse and functionality at reason-able rates. Young and fresh, Centro is amidscale lifestyle brand that is original in itspresentation and dynamic in its offerings.

Arjaan Hotel Apartments by Rotanaare first-class residences, with an added per-sonal touch. Arjaan Hotel Apartments byRotana have been developed with both long-term guests and families in mind. Thosestaying longer than the average visitor willappreciate the particularly spacious accom-modation, whilst families relish the promiseof an environment which more closely re-sembles home.

Rayhaan Hotels & Resorts by Rotanais a niche market segment brand comprisingof upscale and upper upscale hotels & re-sorts. This brand was developed by Rotanaespecially for the MEA region, although we

believe that it has a wider geographic appli-cation in key locations.

Development of these brands is meticu-lously managed across all our operations,evoking the utmost trust and confidenceamong property owners. As a managementteam, we are dedicated to raising the stan-dards within the hotel industry by setting andimproving on our own. We will continue toachieve measured growth and realistic ex-pansion in locations which are of interest tous bringing our expertise to every future ho-tel, convention centre, serviced apartment orprime resort. As a company, we continue topursue new openings and opportunities,fresh challenges, and partners, who seek thesame goals and share the same aspirations.

Which are the segments Rotanaoperates in? What is the group’sUSP?The fact that we are a multi-brand companywith four very clearly positioned brands, we

are able to cater to multiple market segmentsand locations. Rotana’s diversity of brandshas provided a comprehensive range ofproducts that aim to meet all the require-ments of our customers depending on theirtravel motivation.

We cater heavily to the corporate andMICE segments of the market in our down-town/CBD locations, and at the same timewe have firmly established our brand in theleisure market with our exceptional resortproperty portfolio.

The USP of Rotana is a combination ofstrategic planning and sound financial con-trol, sophisticated human resourcecapabilities and reliable technical servicessupport. The brand is driven by passion andpersonal warmth and the delivery of consis-tent quality standards, combined with a keenunderstanding of regional markets, commit-ment to research, and significant investmentin systems and people. Our product offeringis exceptionally strong. Our properties are inthe right locations and our level of service,much sought after.

Guests know what to expect when stayingat any of our properties and this is very im-portant for us to maintain. We have workedhard to gain the trust of our customers in ahighly competitive market where most of theglobal brands were operating 2 to 3 decadesbefore we came in. We are certain of ourability to be able to recreate the same levelof success in India in the coming years.

What are the company’sexpansion plans for India? Whatare the targets set for the marketfor the next 5 years?India has always been a very important mar-ket for us. We are proud of the fact that Indiahas been the country of origin of a significantnumber of Rotana colleagues, both at front-line and managerial levels. We also continueto enjoy tremendous patronage from Indianstravelling overseas and staying at our hotels,both in terms of corporate and leisure de-mand; the fact that India is one of the largesttrading partners for the majority of the coun-tries where we currently operate in hasresulted in us having built a very strong andsustainable relationship with the countryover the last two decades.

We have been actively researching theIndian market for some time, and have nowcommitted ourselves to operate in the coun-try for the long term. As a whole the country

The USP of Rotana is acombination of strategic

planning and sound financialcontrol, sophisticated

human resource capabilitiesand reliable technicalservices support. Our

product offering isexceptionally strong. Ourproperties are in the rightlocations and our level of

service, much sought after.

AMAN ADITYA SACHDEVSENIOR VICE PRESIDENT – INDIA

18


NEW ENTRANTS

continues to be grossly under-serviced interms hotel rooms, this fact gets all the morecompounded when you focus on the brand-ed sector. Whilst it can be argued that someof the major cities within the country havereached an acceptable level in terms ofroom supply, new large entrants such as Ro-tana will generate further demand traction asour global sales and marketing networkdrives additional business into these cities.Secondary and tertiary cities remain signifi-cantly under serviced, so in addition to themajor cities we are actively pursuing upcom-ing destinations.

In line with the above we are in the pro-cess of establishing a full-fledged office inDelhi-NCR. The prime function is to put inplace Rotana’s strategy for its developmentwithin the market in terms of managing prop-erties and’introducing Rotana to developers.We have set in motion our roll-out plans forthe Indian market for three of our brands –Rotana Hotels & Resorts, Centro Hotels byRotana and Arjaan Hotel Apartments by Ro-tana. We are delighted with the earlyresponse and interest which we have re-ceived from the market.

Rotana recently opened its outboundsales office in Mumbai. What hasyour experience been so far?

In July 2011, we inaugurated our new out-bound sales office in India, which is workingon promoting, marketing and selling Ro-tana’s properties and increasing Rotana’smarket share whether business or leisure out-bound travellers, in line with the overallexpansion of Rotana and our growing mar-ket segment. It’s worth mentioning that thenumber of outbound business from India toour hotels increased by 11% in 2011, whichis a very positive sign.

What is Rotana’s understandingof the Indian hospitality market:what are the key strengths andchallenges?’

Domestic travel across all segments con-

tinues to remain strong and it is only poisedto grow further. A growing segment of thedomestic traveller is now opting to stay atbranded hotels as opposed to independenthotels or with family & friends. With so manyof the state level tourism boards now aggres-sively promoting their respectivedestinations, domestic leisure demand hasseen a recent surge, a trend which is expect-ed to continue on an upward cycle. Theeasing of visa processes, better access infra-structure and an aggressive global marketingprogram for brand India both as a leisureand foreign investment destination has re-sulted in a positive impact on internationalarrivals. While this growth is still at its na-scent stage, we strongly believe that theattractiveness of the Indian market for in-bound tourists is poised for significantgrowth in the medium term.

Each market has a set of developmentand operating challenges, and India is nodifferent on these matters than many ofthe other countries where we currently op-erate. Development hurdles such as highland costs, low FSI ratios, under developedsupporting infrastructure, high cost of cap-ital, high rate of inflation, availability ofquality contractors and excessive numberof regulatory approvals are some of thekey development challenges in the coun-try. On the operating side of the equationthe key challenge is in the area of humanresources which for us is the key ingredi-ent to the success of any hospitalityoperation. With the current surge in thenumber of new operating and under de-velopment hotels across the country andin the wider region and the added pres-sure from other service industrybusinesses, the available pool of quality

human resources for the hospitality indus-try has been significantly reduced.

What is the outlook for growth?We believe that despite its challenges, In-

dia remains as one of the most attractivemarkets for the hospitality industry. The keysuccess factor is to partner with the right de-velopers who have a genuine interest in thehospitality business and who have an ambi-tion to be long-term owners of the asset.

How many hotels does Rotanacurrently have in its portfolio?What are the future growthplans?We currently have an operating portfolio of43 properties (comprising of more than11,000 rooms) across the MEA with an addi-tional 34 properties (comprising of morethan 11,500 keys) under development as oftoday. We announced earlier this year em-barking on a 750 million USD investmentmanaged by Rotana to open in 2012, helpingour group to maintain its position as the larg-est hotel brand in the region. We will open 7new hotels in 2012 including our first proper-ties in Bahrain & Jordan and our secondhotel in Qatar and will expand our portfolioin the UAE with four additional hotels.

The expansion plans will see Rotana man-aging more than 14,000 rooms across itsproperties by the end of 2012.

We believe our growth is supported byour commitment to keep evolving our prod-ucts in line with travel trends and guestpreferences, and one of the key areas forgrowth that we are currently addressing is themidscale market, for which we developedthe Centro Hotels by Rotana brand. ■

as told to PURVA BHATIA

Highlights…❏ Rotana currently has an operatingportfolio of 43 properties, it will openseven new hotels in 2012 and theexpansion plans will see them managingmore than 14,000 rooms across allproperties by 2012.


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20


NEW ENTRANTS

and Skylofts brands. We expect our firsthotel in India to welcome guests in the lastquarter of 2014.

While Bellagio is positioned as the superluxury brand, MGM Grand is positioned a tadlower. The company will also bring in a thirdluxury hotel brand, Skylofts.

What is the target you have set forthe Indian market? Which are thecities you are eyeing for growth?

We have very aggressive expansion plansin India, and to date, have signed definitive

Casino major MGM Mirage plans to launch a range of its luxury brands in India.The Indian market is well suited to the dynamic luxury brands of MGM

Hospitality, says Gamal Aziz, CEO & president, MGM Mirage,who tells us about the chain and its plans for India.

agreements for the Bellagio Mumbai, theMGM Grand and Skylofts Mumbai, the MGMGrand and Skylofts New Delhi, and the MGMGrand Noida. We have also signed a letter ofintent for the MGM Grand Jaipur.

India is a very dynamic market, and whilewe are not excluding any specific markets, weare currently focusing on major urban andresort destinations including Bangalore, Chen-nai, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Jaipur.

How many hotels does MGM havein its portfolio? What is your

What are MGM’s plans for India?Which brands are you planning tointroduce? By when is the firsthotel expected to open?

Our current focus for India is on estab-lishing world-class non-gaming hotels andresorts by leveraging the incredible array ofentertainment, dining, spa, nightlife, retailand other non-gaming attributes that ourcompany is renowned for. While our com-pany has multiple brands, our non-gamingefforts are focused on establishing hotelsand resorts under our Bellagio, MGM Grand

MGM Mirage Hospitality

TO OPEN ITS FIRST HOTELIN INDIA BY 2014


| 21

NEW ENTRANTS

India is a very dynamicmarket, and while we are

not excluding anyspecific markets, we are

currently focusing onmajor urban and resortdestinations including

Bangalore, Chennai, Goa,Hyderabad, Kolkata and

Jaipur. We have veryaggressive expansionplans in India, and to

date, have signeddefinitive agreements for

some properties.

GAMAL AZIZCEO & PRESIDENT

expansion plan?MGM Resorts International is a Fortune

500 hospitality and entertainment companywith worldwide recognition. We own andoperate a peerless portfolio of 19 destinationgaming hotels and resortsaround the world.We also have the MGM Grand Ho Tram un-der construction, which is a gaming resort inVietnam that will be opening under MGM’smanagement in the first quarter of 2013.

On the non-gaming side, we are very excit-ed to have recently opened the MGM GrandSanya, which is our first non-gaming propertyto open. In addition to the MGM Grand Sanya,we currently have 20 non-gaming hotels andresorts in our pipeline and we are aggressivelylooking to expand this portfolio globally.

Are you also exploring gamingopportunities in India?We believe that India would present an in-credible opportunity for the establishment oflarge-scale integrated gaming resorts. Howev-er, to date, none of the markets in India haveembraced the idea of an integrated gamingresort. We are continuing to monitor the sit-uation in India very closely, and will pursuegaming opportunities if and when they be-come available.

What is your take on the luxurymarket in India?India is one of the fastest growing regions inthe world for both business and leisure trav-el. The Indian market is well suited to the

dynamic luxury brands of MGMHospitality. We specialize in developing des-tination properties that become a center forretail, entertainment, dining and businessgatherings for the city in which they are lo-cated, and we believe our brand portfolio ofBellagio, MGM Grand and Skylofts fit perfect-ly with the increasingly sophisticated needsof the Indian hospitality market.

What is MGM’s USP, how will itbe different from other luxuryhospitality brands already presentin the country?The distinctive approach of MGM Hospitalityappeals to the local market audience. Ourdining, nightlife and entertainment options atthe world-class destinations we create cateras much to the local market as it does to thetraveling guest. In each of our properties weseek to become the hub for the surroundingcommunity’s social and business activities.

Are MGM hotels standardized oris there scope for localization?In additional to our unparalleled level of ser-vice, the only thing that is standardized atMGM’s properties is the fact that each of ourproperties will serve as “the destination” with-in the cities where they are located for bothvisitors and locals alike. In order to achievethis environment it is critical that each of ourproperties find the unique balance and com-bination between the local culture and ourLas Vegas DNA. ■

22


TRENDS

Hotels are increasingly offering sleep and wellness programs that are tailor madetreatments for the guests to ensure a good night’s sleep. On offer are pillow

menus, heavenly beds, jet lag packages and spa packages.

Taking cue from the recent SupremeCourt’s judgment that declaredsleep fundamental right, Indian hotels seem to be pulling out all stops

to ensure restful slumber for their guests.All kinds of accoutrements – from the plebi-

an to the sybaritic – are being pressed intoservice to let the customers enjoy a glitch-freesnooze. Take your pick from a ‘sleep program’to a pillow menu, ergonomic mattresses to anti-snore devices, special massages, customisedwindow blinds to bath salts, sound proofing,custom-designed beds to white noise machinesand Executive Nap Kit – there’s little’comingbetween the guest and his shut eye!

Beach House Goa Resort Hotel, for in-stance, offers rooms which are fitted with a“Nightcove” system to facilitate comfortablesleep through ambient lighting, music andspecial relaxation techniques. The hotel alsooffers a comprehensive wellness program totreat sleep disorders and anxiety. After a fullmedical assessment (‘Signature 360˚ Screen-ing Process’), a tailor-made treatment is

fleshed out for the guest by a teamof physicians, nutritionists and dieticians.This includes a special diet, yoga, self aware-ness programs, complete organ support andcleansing and neuro linguistic programming.

The ITC hotels, which were among thefirst to take their guests’ sleep seriously in thenineties, currently offer a comprehensive“WelcomSlumber” kit. This includes a book-let on sleep, special quotes on sleep, an eyemask, an ear plug, a complimentary hot bev-erage like hot chocolate or warm glass ofmilk (on request) before sleep. A spray ofsound sleep and stress reliever bottle and afragrant dreamkerchief are also placed onthe pillow before the guests hit the sack.

Pillow menus are also a popular sleep aid

amongst hotel guests. Both, The Claridges, NewDelhi and The Claridges, Surajkund offer anexclusive pillow menu with a raft of options tochoose from. Need extra head support whilesnoozing? Worry not. The hotel’s ‘Firm Feel Pil-low’ will ensure just that. Those with sensitivenecks and spines can opt for the ‘Posture Per-fect Pillow’ that snugly adjusts to bodilycontours. Plagued by an allergy? The ‘Anti-aller-gy pillow’’– crafted from super refined microfibers of polypropylene – is your bet againstfine dust or natural materials like cotton orfeathers found in normal pillows.

Why are hoteliers placing such an overtemphasis on sleep? “Hotels are basically inthe business of selling sleep,” equips OliverC. Martin, general manager, The Claridges

New Sleep Techniques being Practiced by Hotels

TAKING SLUMBERSERIOUSLY

The ITC hotels, currently offer a comprehensive “WelcomSlumber”kit. This includes a booklet on sleep, special quotes on sleep, aneye mask, an ear plug, a complimentary hot beverage before sleep.

Heavenly bed, Westin


| 23

Surajkund. “When the guest is away fromhome, his utmost priority is good qualitysleep. We ensure that through our multipleofferings, the guest not only enjoys a goodnight’s rest but is also sufficiently rejuvenatedand uplifted. Such services are increasinglybecoming a key differentiating factor for lux-ury hotels,” he adds.

Apart from a pillow menu, The ClaridgesSurajkund also offers an eight-fragrancemenu that comprises a range of scents thatcan be burnt in diffusers to de-stress the cli-ents. The hotel is also in the process oflaunching a ‘music menu’ to provide an evenmore soothing in-room ambience for theguests. Also in the pipeline is a whole floor of20 ‘Pure Rooms’’– where the SPM (suspend-ed particulate matter) or the ambient dustlevel will be nearly zilch. This will cater tothe extremely health conscious customer ata nominally higher tariff.

Global surveys have repeatedly under-scored that one of the most basic luxuriesthat guests look at in hotels is good qualitysleep. “A good night’s sleep is non-negotia-ble. We ensure that everyone who stays atour hotel walks away well rested. It is the keyto a productive trip and we spare no expense

to help our guests sleep better,” explainsSanjay Sharma, general manager, WestinSohna and Westin Gurgaon.

Well, Sharma should know. The Westingroup has raised its sleep service to the lev-el of an art form. The global chainrevolutionised the travel industry in 1999with the launch of its ‘Heavenly Bed’ that in-spired countless imitators igniting hotel-bedwars and jump-starting the hotel retailphenomenon. In the decade since, morethan 75 million guests have tucked them-selves into Heavenly Beds at Westin hotelsaround the world.

The Westin staff will also proudly tell youthat Presidents, Hollywood/Bollywood royal-ty and professional athletes have all tuckedinto their exclusive beds and given glowingfeedback. The beds have galvanized theWestin group into investing over US$30 mil-lion to create the perfect night’s sleep. It

introduced 52,000 new Heavenly beds in its39,500 guest rooms, becoming the first hotelbrand to take sleep so seriously.

Taking its sleep philosophy forward, Wes-tin has also introduced several additions toits Heavenly portfolio, including the Heaven-ly Crib in 2000, Heavenly Shower in 2001,Heavenly Dog Bed in 2002 and Heavenly Spabrand in 2008.

Where are these uber beds sourced from?Apparently they are manufactured by Sim-mons exclusively for Westin Hotels andcomprise a 13-inch no flip pillow top mat-tress, with one-of-a-kind motion separationtechnology and individually pocketed coils.The standard box spring unit is over eightinches. Each bed, also sold as a mattress andbox spring unit, is a case study in CornellSchool of Hotel Administration!

Beds are superstars at the Radisson BluHotel, New Delhi too. Informs Javed Ali,

TRENDS

The Westin revolutionised the travel industry in 1999 with the launchof its ‘Heavenly Bed’ that inspired countless imitators igniting hotel-bed wars and jump-starting the hotel retail phenomenon.

Guest room at The Claridges, Surajkund

24


vice president & general manager of the ho-tel: “All our beds have the 10-inchposture-paedic luxury mattresses. These pro-vide for incredible comfort and luxury byvirtue of a patented quilt designed to im-prove circulation and aid sound sleep. Ourbed linens have a range of duvet covers andpillow choices which include hypo-allergen-ic options apart from down and feather.”

Of particular relevance, in relation to thehotel’s proximity to the international airport,adds Ali, is the hotel’s spa transit packagewhich includes detoxification through aunique ‘Dry Floatation’ experience. The uniquefeature of the dry floatation bed is that it aidsdeep slumber, whereby 40 minutes on the dryfloatation bed is equivalent to the relaxationobtained by four hours of normal sleep.

“This treatment allows you to experience analmost weightless state known as ‘passive im-mersion’, inducing complete relaxation of thejoints and muscular system,” explains the GM.

The Radisson’s Jetleg Spa Package allowsa guest to check in directly into a spa ratherthan the hotel room. There’s a four-hour, six-hour or eight-hour package priced at Rs6,750, Rs 8,000 and Rs 9,750 plus taxes re-spectively. All packages include privatesuites for single and couples, steam and sau-na, relaxing massage and face treatments,light refreshment and sleep time. One canopt for multifarious therapies like an aroma-therapy massage, Swedish massage, Indian

marma massage and body scrubs.The spa at the Oberoi Udaivilas in

Udaipur also leaves no stone unturned toensure that its guests sleep like babies. It of-fers Padabhyanga, an ayurvedic reflexologytherapy that focuses on the marma points ofthe feet and lower legs. “Padabhyanga pro-motes quality sleep, increases circulationand energy flow to boost immunity, rejuve-nating the entire body,” informs a therapist atthe spa. “This therapy incorporates the use ofa kasa bowl which is warmed in oil resultingin a more effective therapy as the metal inter-acts with the energy force of the body.”

According to Dr. Ramesh Khatri, gener-al physician at Max Hospital, Noida, the overtattention to sleep is hardly surprising consid-ering sleep disorders affect a sizeablesegment of the Indian populace with a wid-ening age bracket, mostly due to increasedstress levels. ”Technology, extensive traveland an insecure economic environmenthave been contributing to increased stresslevels, resulting in many bodily imbalances,”says the doctor.

Khatri adds that sleep deprivation can

adversely affect the brain and cognitivefunction. A 2001 study at Chicago MedicalInstitute concluded that lack of optimal sleepis linked to serious diseases, such as heartdisease and mental illnesses including psy-chosis and bipolar disorder.

Small wonder, abroad, some outfits evenoffer a Sleep Concierge who ensures thatguests get a peaceful sleep by advising themon what to eat before going to bed andwhich pillow to choose. The Crowne PlazaHollywood Beach Resort in Florida, for ex-ample, features a Sleep Advantage Programas part of an effort to comfort overworkedbusiness travellers. The hotel has even desig-nated “quiet zone” floors, ensuring guests arenot staying next to any crying babies or fam-ily reunions.

Ogden Nash famously quipped how thebed is a bundle of paradoxes: we go to itwith reluctance, yet we quit it with regret; wemake up our minds every night to leave itearly, but we make up our bodies everymorning to keep it late. Indian hotelierscouldn’t agree more. ■

by NEETA LAL

Radisson Blu Hotel, New Delhi in relation to its proximity to theairport offers a spa transit package which includes detoxificationthrough a unique ‘Dry Floatation’ experience which aids deep slumber.

TRENDS

Radisson Blu, New Delhi


| 25

26


ITDC

RE-DEDICATES ITSELF TOTHE ROLE OF CATALYST

ITDC has been the prime mover in theprogressive development, promotionand expansion of tourism in the country. Established in 1966, ITDC’s bouquet

of services consist of accommodation, cater-ing, transport, travel & tours, duty freeshopping, entertainment, publicity, consul-tancy and manpower training – all underone roof.● Proactive approach, introduction of newinitiatives and ventures have created a plat-

of social responsibilities and commitments.● The joint venture with IL&FS is aimed todevelop tourism infrastructure through pub-lic-private partnership mode and the JV iscalled Ashok Infra (Ashok Tourism Infrastruc-ture Development).● Physical upgradation, manpower devel-opment and motivational inputs are otherbenchmarks of success at ITDC. About Rs 70crore has been spent in ensuring that TheAshok, Hotel Samrat and The Janpath are re-positioned as prime properties in New Delhi.Another tranche of Rs 100 crore is being uti-lised for ITDC hotels countrywide. Mainthrust areas are on renovating guest roomsand public areas as well as IT-hardware andproperty management.● Manpower development has also set par-adigms of excellence at ITDC. 100 freshgraduates have been recently inducted in theworkforce. To be in sync with times, the Cor-poration works on constant and sustainedin-service training of existing staff as well ason-the-job professional training. ■

About Rs 70 crore has beenspent in ensuring that The

Ashok, Hotel Samrat and TheJanpath are repositioned as

prime properties in NewDelhi. Another tranche of Rs100 crore is being utilized for

ITDC hotels countrywide.Main thrust areas are on

renovating guest rooms andpublic areas.

LALIT PANWARCHAIRMAN & MANAGING DIRECTOR

form of change and introduced benchmarksof excellence. Overall performance of thecorporation is reflected in the profit of Rs 21crore achieved in the current financial year.● The new face of ITDC is reflected in areasof performance viz. excellent event manage-ment both in India and abroad, installationof ‘Sound & Light’ shows in the country andambitious plans to maximize revenue by le-veraging resources of the existing hotelsthrough public-private partnership (PPP) andconsolidation of existing business.● ITDC now envisions a more comprehen-sive view of the tourism scene in India. TheCorporation has adopted an additional man-date to enter into non-hotel sectors likehospitality education and provide job skills forthe country’s unemployed youth for the Min-istry of Tourism’s “Hunar Se Rozgar” initiative.● An MoU with ‘Trifed’ for marketing tribalhandicrafts at Ashok Group Hotels and an MoUwith ‘Swayam’ to launch Ashok Access to pro-vide user-friendly services for differently-abledpersons are the other initiatives of being aware

ITDC has played major role in the hotel and tourism industry and will nowenter into non hotel sectors like hospitality education and provide

job skills for the country’s unemployed youth.

THE BRAND AND BUSINESS

The Ashok


| 27

Six Senses

LOOKING FOR RIGHTOPPORTUNITY IN INDIA

Is Sonu Shivdasani planning to come toIndia? With iconic brands such as ‘Sone-va’ and Six Senses, we would havethought he would have been here al-

ready. Hotelscapes caught up with himrecently in New Delhi, for an informal chat.Yes, he remains interested, given the right op-portunity.

In recent times, his group has made someentry into Indian space. He is working onSoneva Spas at Jaypee Greens at GreaterNoida and also at World One, the new resi-dential complex coming up from LodhaBuilders, in Worli, Mumbai. But any big tick-et project still seems to be eluding him.

“Given the right opportunity” – is all thathe is willing to say for the moment.

I would have thought India would be aplace he would want to come to. Given thathe is of Indian origin, but educated and livedmostly in London, he keeps coming back toIndia. About once a year, he says, which isbetter than once in two years.

He may like to look at developing a highend destination spa, somewhere in the Nil-giris, or a beach resort in the Andamans, butthen infrastructure poses a big challenge. Oth-er countries also pose less of a challenge inputting up a hotel – it should be easy to set up.

He is open to partnerships, of course giv-en a professional player in the business..

What do his projects and brands standfor? His answer is ‘intelligent luxury’. When

International luxuryspa and resort chainis waiting to ride onthe luxury boom inIndia. SonuShivdasani, chairman& CEO talks about thebrand, luxurysegment and his plansfor India.

you feel the need for fresh air, life in theopen, with organic foods, fresh as fresh canbe, then he has the answers. The definitionof being rich has changed over the years. To-day, he says, the rich live in downtown cities,and have little exposure to the world outside.

He lists the 5 layers of luxury as outlined in asurvey put together for Lamboghini. Stage 1 iswhen the customer wants to make a statement,that he has arrived, making an obvious splashwith his money. Stage 2 is when he becomesless ostentatious, acquires taste, so to say. Stage3 is when he is seeking experiences. He uses hiswealth to learn. Stage 4 is self actualisation andStage 5 is when he is making a statement with‘who you are’. Soneva is about stage 3, providingluxury experiences, giving an opportunity forpeople ‘to be’ and learn from their experiences.

How about Indians being good customersfor his properties. He has 6 in Thailand, 3 eachin Vietnam and Maldives and 1 in Oman. Heis presently building a new resort in Sri Lanka.This is a 50:50 joint venture with Aitken Spen-ce. Surely, the group has come a long waysince 1995 when the first property opened, inthe Maldives, the Soneva Fushi. He could dowith more Indian travellers; presently, some 4to 5% of his clientele is from India. Most ofthem are repeat clients, returning for more. Hewould want more from India, and hopes soonIndia could become one of the top 10 produc-ing countries for the group. ■

by NAVIN S BERRY

Six Senses is a resortand spa management

and developmentcompany, established

in 1995, which managesresorts under the brand

names Soneva, SixSenses and Evason;plus Six Senses Spas

and Six SensesSanctuary.

SONU SHIVDASANICHAIRMAN AND CEO

ConDao villa exterior, Vietnam

28


Fortune Hotels

PLANS 90 HOTELS BY 2015,BUILDING ‘VALUE FOR MONEY’

products and “value led” services. It’sbranded restaurants, modern décor,convenient service designs and sub-brandsthat cater to different categories of guests,sets it apart from all other chains.

With 66 signed properties, 5074 roomsspread across 50 cities in India, 'Fortune Ho-tels' is operating 40 hotels at present. Thechain offers full service without compromis-ing on quality and that too, at a verypeople-friendly price. Convenient locations,

The chain’s tag line says it all – ‘LetFortune Take You Places’. Thechain that was created to cater tothe mid-market to upscale segment

has made its presence felt across the lengthand breadth of the country, having grown ex-ponentially in the last 4-5 years. ‘FortuneHotels’ is not only taking its guests 'places'but is also offering them an excellent valuefor money in each location. Whether the ho-tel is located in a metro, mini-metro, abusiness location or a resort cum leisure des-tination, the brand is now widely recognisedfor the quality of its product & services. Its‘mid-market to upscale concept’ has generat-ed confidence among its promoters and thechain is being recognised as the best ‘FirstClass Full Service Business Hotel’ chain inthe country.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of ITC Ltd.,Fortune Park Hotels Ltd has clearly definedsub-brands bringing instant recall, therefore,the guests can easily match theirrequirements with the chain’s offers. The sub-brands now include the recently launched‘My Fortune’ brand that represents ‘stylishlifestyle hotels’, where the ‘comfort of home’and ‘efficient service’ come seamlesslytogether, thereby creating a ‘sense ofbelongingness’. These hotels offer a perfectblend of traditional Indian hospitality withnew age technology, catering to the upscalebusiness traveller. The first hotel under thenew brand was flagged off in Chennai. Theother sub-brands under which the hotels arebeing operated by the chain are ‘FortuneSelect’, ‘Fortune Park’, ‘Fortune Inn’ and‘Fortune Resort’.

In the process of creating quality hotelaccommodation in a wide choice ofdestinations, the Fortune Hotels chain hasemerged as a brand with a reputation ofcontemporary modern hotels offering quality

Suresh Kumar talks to Hotelscapes about Fortune Hotelsand their expansion plans and their vision of being a

90 hotels strong chain by 2015.


In the next few years we seeourselves consolidating ourposition as the top player inthe first class, full service,

business hotel segment andto be constantly recognisedas a provider of consistent

quality products andservices, thereby be

perceived as the premier“value” brand in India.

SURESH KUMARCEO

excellence of cuisine, efficient service andcompetitive pricing, have made the FortuneHotels chain fairly popular with both busi-ness and leisure travellers.

In the next few years we see ourselvesconsolidating our position as the top playerin the first class, full service, business hotelsegment and to be constantly recognised asa provider of consistent quality products andservices, thereby be perceived as the premier“value” brand in the Indian hospitality sce-nario. We have always emphasised on thevirtue of leveraging on the power of a“spread” as “the length of the chain is thestrength of the chain”. We plan to continueto work towards our vision of “unfurling aFortune at every 180 km” by concentratingon Metro, Mini-Metro, Tier I & Tier II citiesacross the country. The chain has extensiveexpansion plans and we are looking at beinga 90 hotels strong chain by the year 2015.

Fortune Hotels brand draws its strengthfrom the proud lineage-ITC Ltd., which is apioneer in the hospitality industry in India.As it continues its sweeping growth throughits well defined sub-brands, the focus of For-tune Hotels is holistic in its development.The properties are being set up in majormetros, mini metros, state capitals and busi-ness towns. Each hotel is created to suit thebusiness needs of a particular environmentleading to a perfect economic fit, and witheach property taking its roots in one locationit further opens up the possibilities at anoth-er level in a “neighbouring hub ofdevelopment”. Fortune Hotels has undoubt-edly established itself as a leading ‘first class,full service business hotel chain’ and it plansto maintain this position by following a bal-anced approach towards growth, expansion,brand extensions and providing the sameassured quality of product and service acrossthe country. ■


| 29

Neemrana Hotels

EXPERIENTIAL HOSPITALITYIS THE KEY TO ITS SUCCESS

What was first spotted in 1977 asa vast and splendid ruin, hassince become synonymous inIndia as a foremost example of

architectural restoration-for-reuse. The Neem-rana non-hotel Hotel brand of hospitalityhinges on the real – not necessarily on theever-escalating standards of ‘more’.

Neemrana has not so much been ob-sessed with just raising the bar of Indianhospitality towards excessive luxury, but ithas worked concertedly towards creating an-other niche whereby the enjoying of historyand its architectural treasures has now be-come a part of the ‘experiential’ Indiantourism repertoire. That this is achieved fromruins – turning India’s waste into its assets. Itis for this authenticity that the Neemrana non-hotel Hotels have now come to be known for.The success is owed to the relentless focusand effort in providing experiential hospital-ity. Neemrana Hotels are like none other inthat they do not follow any set of rules ofmanagement – they have made their own.

Neemrana Fort-Palace, being Rajasthan'sclosest palace to Delhi, remains the weekendfavourite of Delhiites. We have also becomea favourite venue for hosting conferencesand weddings from both India or overseas.

A Neemrana experience is very rootedand real. We have no pretensions to beingwhat we are not: just Neemrana ‘non-hotel’Hotels! None of the buildings you wake up inwith us were built to be hotels. We have re-modelled them to this purpose.

Neemrana employs, trains and empowerslocal people to be first part of the restorationand revitalization process and then try andmake the whole enterprise viable. This ismore easily said than done. But it is a processwe have now successfully achieved at 25properties, across 10 states of India. And yet,we are are only funded by ourselves as we tryand achieve that viability cycle through theyear. We employ no mercenaries, as our

ers. In sync with the increasing popularity ofthe internet we have re-launched our websitewww.neemranahotels.com and made itmore informative and user-friendly. We havealso launched individual sub-sites for all ourproperties where our clients can see photo-graphs of each unique room along withroom descriptions that aptly describe the at-mosphere, interiors and location of theroom. We also have facebook and twitterpages www.facebook.com/Neemranahotelsand www.twitter.com/Neemrana_Hotelswhich have become excellent platforms forour existing audience to share their Neem-rana experiences. It is also a great way toreach out to people who have not beenNeemranified yet. However, we do not in-dulge in road-block marketing. We havemerely created a forum for our audience toreach out to us.

There is new, young blood in our Sales &Marketing team and we always try to interactwith our clients as human beings – not just asa company.

Immediate Plans: The latest additionto the Neemrana portfolio is Deo Baghwhich has opened its doors in the historicalcity of Gwalior. Deo Bagh has 15 roomsspread across 5 wings, facing a Nau-Bagh.These have been named after the historicalconnections of the Jadhav family ofGwalior. The Zenana wing was used as asummer house for the ladies and dates backto the 17th century!

Neemrana will also be launching Divan’sBungalow in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and TijaraFort-Palace in Alwar, Rajasthan this summer!

As India Today recently mentioned“Neemrana Hotels taught India that a hotelneed not be in a destination, it can be thedestination !” Today, many Neemrana loversplan their next holiday according to the lat-est destination that Neemrana has created,goading us to restore and revitalise more ofIndia’s heritage ! ■

A Neemrana experience isvery rooted and real. Wehave no pretensions to

being what we are not: justNeemrana ‘non-hotel’

Hotels! None of thebuildings you wake up inwith us were built to be

hotels. We haveremodelled them to

this purpose.

AMAN NATHFOUNDER & CHAIRMAN

commitment to our people is complete.A Self-propelling Heritage Brand: As

far as brand building and visibility is con-cerned, Neemrana does not reach out topotential customers via high decibel advertis-ing – yet our hotels enjoy high occupancylevels throughout the year. Our guests nowwake up all over India in some 25 propertiesthat we have revitalized.

We do selective advertising with estab-lished travel magazines and selectiveinterviews with business and travel publish-

Aman Nath tells us the reasons for the success of his hotels; theNeemrana experience, selective advertising and young blood

in sales and marketing team.


30


Infrastructure Status for Hotel Industry

ANOTHER BUDGET ANDANOTHER MISS FOR HOTELS

Tell us how the infrastructurestatus will help the industryThe hotel industry is greatly disappointed withthe fact that the Cabinet Commitee on infra-structure whilst finalising its harmonised list ofinfrastructure sub-sectors has only extendedthe benefits to 3-star or higher category classi-fied hotels located outside cities withpopulation of more than one million. Thiswould leave out more than 95% of the hotelswhich would require the benefits of being in-cluded in the infrastructure list. This is becauseoutside cities with population of more than onemillion, hotels of only small size of say about100 rooms could be set-up in Beach Resorts,Heritage Sites, Wildlife Sanctuaries, etc. Thebulk of the hotels which are set-up in cities withpopulation of more than one million are theones that really require the incentives given toinfrastructure projects by infrastructure lendinginstitutions like Infrastructure Development Fi-nance Corporation (IDFC), India InfrastructureFinance Ltd. (IIFL), IDBI, IFCI and other Com-mercial Banks who could extend financialassistance up to the period of 15 years, unlikeat present where the maximum tenure is 10years from Commercial Banks.

Also, the hotels of about 100 rooms out-side the population of more than one millionhave a low project cost say of about Rs 100crores, as the cost of land is very small com-pared to the total cost of the project; unlikein cities where land constitutes a major pro-

portion of the cost and cost of projects rangeupto Rs 2,000 crore. They are capital-inten-sive and have a long gestation period.

These hotels are the ones that really re-quire the benefit of extended tenure of loansof 15 years. Thus, the main characteristics ofthe definition of infrastructure i.e. high sunkcost and large scale employment generationleading to economic development becauseof huge multiplier effect of the Hotel andTourism Industry etc. would not be fully ful-filled by the hotels outside city limits.

What steps do you want theGovernment to take?We wish the necessary amendment is madeso that in Section 35 AD of the Income TaxAct, 2-star or above category hotels operatinganywhere in India would benefit from beingin the infrastructure list. Tourism is India’s larg-est employment generator at 53 million i.e.9.2% of the total employment workforce. Thegovernment’s target is to double our ForeignTourists Arrivals from the present 6 mn to 12mn for which additional 1,80,000 guest roomsis to be set-up at a cost of about Rs 72,000crore and for which the aforesaid amendmentto all the hotels in India to be eligible, to be inthe infrastructure list, is of vital importance. Ifthe aforesaid target is accomplished, almost23% of the additional employment of 78 Mncould come from the Hotel and Tourism Sec-tor in the 12th 5-year Plan (2012 - 17). ■

SIGNS OF OUR TIMES

The Cabinet Committee onInfrastructure recentlyapproved the harmonised list ofinfrastructure sub-sectors. Thelist extends benefits only to 3-star or higher category. VivekNair, honarary secretary,FHRAI and vice chairman &managing director, The LeelaPalaces, Hotels and Resortstalks about the concerns.

Tourism is India’s largestemployment generator at 53million i.e. 9.2% of the total

employment workforce. Thegovernment’s target is to

double our Foreign TouristsArrivals from the present6 mn to 12 mn for whichadditional 1,80,000 guest

rooms is to be set-upat a cost of aboutRs 72,000 crore.

VIVEK NAIRHONORARY SECRETARY, FHRAI AND

VICE CHAIRMAN & MD, THE LEELA PALACES,HOTELS AND RESORTS


| 31

Trends in Hotels Selling Online

ONLINE HOTEL YET TO REPLICATETHE SUCCESS OF ONLINE AIRLINE

It is probably the industry's worst-kept se-cret that online hotel-inventory has notbeen able to replicate the success of theonline air-ticket purchase model. It is

even presented as a case in point by detrac-tors of this model. With MakeMyTrip havingspent over half a decade introducing andcontinuously improving this model, this is agood time to reflect upon our efforts.

One of the key challenges when we start-ed selling hotels in 2005 was creating aviable supply-chain that not only ensuredavailability of the inventory online but alsoa seamless purchase experience on thewebsite.Unlike the airline industry that cre-ated the first GDS in the 1960s largely tokeep track of flight schedules, availability,and prices and as early as the mid-1970s,when SABRE (owned by American Airline)and Apollo (United) began installing theirpropriety internal reservations systems intravel agencies, hotels in India had no suchsystem. We looked to solve this by creatingIndia’s first extranet for hotels to load roominventories, either as a rolling stock with acut-off date or on a real-time basis for saleon MakeMyTrip.com. The next challengewas to sign up hotels and ensure that oncethe bookings came in, they were honouredand customers faced no issues. This wasachieved by sheer dint and effort of a youngBusiness Development Team that we placedin key commercial and leisure destinationsacross the country and a central operationsteam that confirmed and reconfirmed book-ings while obtaining future inventory.

As we established ourselves as the dom-inant travel brand in India, it gotincreasingly easier for us to sign up domes-tic chains and stand-alone hotels. Howeverinternational chains, headquartered in far-away Europe and USA had a much longergestation period. At present, we have sever-al direct connects with international

in the quarter ended December 31, 2011compared to the quarter ended December31, 2010.

We have ensured that we maintain a rea-sonable margin in this business and do notbelieve in discounting from our pocket. Aswe continue to build supply across catego-ries, including budget & home stays and aswe add new customers, we are confidentthat we would continue to be the placewhere consumers would turn to for bookinga hotel of their choice at the right price! ■

Despite the efforts, we feelour journey of sellinghotels is just about

beginning. Our investmentin My Guest House

Accommodations Pvt Ltdhas strengthened our

presence in India.

DEEP KALRAFOUNDER & CEO, MAKEMYTRIP.COM

WITH INPUTS FROM

AMIT SABERWALSVP AND HEAD – HOTELS AND

INTERNATIONAL MARKETMAKEMYTRIP.COM

bookings systems and offer thousands ofhotels across the world with last-roomavailability.Now, with the hotels witnessingproductivity and our ability to producerooms when they need them, a virtuous cy-cle has started and getting hotels on boardis no longer a challenge.

However, a fundamental challenge incustomer-behaviour owing to the nature ofthe product still awaited us. Unlike the estab-lished buying behaviour of customers ofpurchasing air and rail tickets through travelagents, buying hotels in India was a frag-mented affair. Most people just showed up atthe destination while many leaned heavilyon contacts and friends and family to makebookings. To counter this trend, we followeda two-pronged approach – creating aware-ness that customers could book hotels onlineand establishing credibility that they wouldhave a hassle-free experience after bookingthrough an intermediary. The latter wasstrongly supplemented by building content,both proprietary and user-generated, whichincluded photographs and customer reviewsand topping that up with a best-price guaran-tee with easy cancellation terms. Furtherinnovations such as early bird discounting,last-minute deals and launching a bundledflight and hotel discounted product sweet-ened the deal.

Despite these mammoth efforts, we feelour journey of selling hotels is just aboutbeginning. Our investment in My GuestHouse Accommodations Pvt Ltd hasstrengthened our presence in the distribu-tion of low budget accommodationinventory besides strengthening our con-nectivity with hotels in India. The categoryis maturing and all our efforts have nowstarted to pay off. This is showing in our tri-ple digit annual growth. We sell over 2500room nights a day. Revenue from our hotelsand packages business increased by 45.8%

Deep Kalra explains how the online hotel market is still at a nascent stage,facing several challenges and trying to make it big in India

SIGNS OF OUR TIMES

32


Perspectives Ahead for the Industry

OPPORTUNITIES, ISSUES ANDRISKS IN INDIA’S GROWTH

The hospitality sector is building upfast in India preparing for the nextgrowth spurt in the short term. Thegeneral Indian industry is in the mid-

dle of an economic slowdown, with rising fuelcosts, interest rates, cost of construction mate-rial and most importantly scarcity and risingcosts for skilled labour. However, internation-al and domestic travel has increased 14.4%during the last 10 months.

The existing hotel supply has grown fromapproximately 40,000 quality rooms to over

tels in India since January 2011 and expect toopen 13 more hotels in the rest of 2012.

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s commit-ment to owners in India is demonstrated bynearly 100 corporate employees providingsupport towards hotel development, pre-opening, operations and across 9 regionalsales offices. In addition to this, the toll-freecall centre at Gurgaon has facilitated guestreservations for Carlson Rezidor’s hotels.

The potential today is, as always, in primarycities due to better connectivity, infrastructureand ability to cater to a range of segments. Go-ing forward we see short to mid-termopportunities in the secondary markets whichcurrently have minimal supply, affordable landparcels and have demonstrated potential fordemand (commercial, leisure, MICE, etc).

Mid-market brands such as Park Inn ByRadisson or Country Inn and Suites By Carl-son have considerable opportunity in theselocations. Most secondary and tertiary mar-kets are dominated by the high potentialdomestic travellers which provides a good fitto most mid-market brands.

Also in the coming years it is important tolook beyond the traditional avenues and onto new initiatives – medical tourism, sportsand adventure tourism, religious circuit, wild-life safaris, rural tourism, eco tourism, andwellness tourism so on and so forth. ■

The Carlson Rezidor HotelGroup has been bullishabout India for over a

decade and we continue tobe very optimistic about

the Indian hotel market. Weare the largest

international hoteloperator in India by

number of hotels and arecommitted to India.

KB KACHRUEXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, SOUTH ASIA,

CARLSON HOTELS ASIA PACIFIC

70,000 rooms in India with an anticipated fur-ther 100,000 expected to enter the marketover the next 3 to 5 years.

With this phenomenal growth, we mustconsider inherent issues, risks and opportuni-ties. While the hospitality industry hasexperienced considerable growth over thelast 5 to 10 years, it still operates within theconstraints of the Indian market and as suchwill be impacted by shortage of skilled labour,sky-rocketing costs of fuel and electricity, costof construction (and land) all of which im-pact the return potential of hotels.

Occupancy performance of hotels on anall India level has never fallen below 60% onaverage from 2003 to 2011. However we alsohave to remember that the travel industry isprobably the most sensitive to business cy-cles. The RevPAR across major cities hasdeclined during the last couple of years dueto the combination of reasons especially theglobal economic slowdown.

The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group hasbeen bullish about India for over a decadeand we continue to be very optimistic aboutthe Indian hotel market. We are the largestinternational hotel operator in India by num-ber of hotels and are committed to India. Wewill continue to see the right opportunitieswith the right brands in the right locations. Asindustry leaders, we opened a record 19 ho-

KB Kachru on Carlson Rezidor’s plans for the Indian market; the growth, thechallenges and the expansion plans over the next few years.

SIGNS OF OUR TIMES

Radisson Blu


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What has been the growth of theindustry in your state?We have recorded an increase in all threecategories, namely, domestic, national andinternational tourists. There has been an increaseof 16.5% in overall tourist traffic as compared tolast year, and an increase of over 60% from 2006-07. Also, the overall number of tourists is alsoexpected to double in the next 5 years. There isa growing demand for good hotels in most of thetourist destinations, and the hotel industry isgearing up to bridge that demand.

What has been the reason for thisspectacular growth?Gujarat was always a tourist destination, but itrequired a good branding exercise to make itvisible to the entire world. The Bachhancampaign got a tremendous response fromeverybody. This has also translated into anincrease in traffic at various places. Forexample, Sasan Gir recorded the highestincrease in traffic of more than 80% ascompared to last year. As a result, the TajGroup reopened their resort in Sasan. Theindustry has realized the potential of hotels attourist destinations in Gujarat.

How do you view hotels, as part ofthe growing economy of thestate? Where do hotels fit in yourscheme of things?Gujarat is a booming economy and we seediverse investments happening in the state.Such an economy has to be supported by agood hospitality industry. It is prudent thathotels of various categories are required tocater to the growing demand. As far as tour-ism industry is concerned, we believe hotelsare an essential part of the system. Also, ho-tels catering to various economical strata arerequired for sustained tourism economy. Cur-

Branding the State

GUJARAT STRENGTHENSHOTEL INFRASTRUCTURE

Gujarat was always a touristdestination, but it requireda good branding exercise tomake it visible to the entire

world. The Bachhancampaign got a tremendousresponse from everybody.

This has also translated intoan increase in traffic at

various places.

VIPUL MITRAPRINCIPAL SECRETARY,

(TOURISM, CIVIL AVIATION, PILGRIMAGE,INDUSTRIES AND MINES)

GOVERNMENT OF GUJARAT

rently, there is a huge demand for budget ho-tels in and around tourist destinations. Onlywhen this demand is met, tourists will havethe confidence in travelling, which in turnwill contribute to the economy.

How many more hotels arerequired as your state grows overthe coming years?According to an estimate by GITCO, Gujaratneeds 40,000 more rooms to accommodate thetourist surge in the next 5 years. Out of this,around 12,000 star category hotels are required.

Apart from hotels, we also needconvention centres, entertainmentcentres, etc – what kind of policydo you have which will encouragethis growth?Convention centres and entertainmentcentres are also a part of tourism, and haveenormous scope for business. On thequestion of a separate policy, the stategovernment offers a level playing ground toany investor who is interested in investing inGujarat. Rather than a specific policy, it isfelt that any investment which will have apositive effect to the overall economy ofGujarat is to be considered important. ■

Vipul Mitra, talks about Gujarat government’s support forthe growth of tourism in the state.

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Using Digital Technologyplatforms to drivepersonalizationOur mantra is that people want a better wayto experience the world and we have to beable to provide them with what they need.To remain ahead of the curve, we mustrealise and understand how technology isimpacting our daily lives and how we as ahotel company can use this information topersonalise a guest experience.

Personalisation is the heart of hospitality.What are we doing differently today is we arerecognising the fact that the whole platformof digital technology, which includes socialmedia, is changing the way we are experi-encing the world and how quickly we aresharing our experiences. How do we then asa hotel leverage all that information aboutyou as the customer and make sure that we

offer an experience that meets your needsand expectations. We can do that as we havethe platform of digital technology. We cando it when you want us to do it, and in yourspace. So it is ultimately the ability of thehotel company to recognise that you can useplatforms of digital technology and socialmedia to completely change the experienceyou want to give your customers which webelieve is an emerging trend.

The key really is how quickly and differ-ently can we do this.

The relevance of social mediaSocial media, we believe is fast becoming akey distribution channel. There is a lot of infor-mation that exists there about our guests, theirneeds and expectations and their feedback. Itis quick and is real time. More importantly it isviral. Our ability to understand the importance

of social media and proactively incorporatethis into our strategy, to be able to leverage theinformation to our advantage will be a key dif-ferentiator going forward.

The review mechanism which exists to-day is getting more and more powerful, a lotof people, while choosing a hotel, go on toTripAdvisor and see the ratings before final-ising their plans. We are the first hotelcompany to open up our websites for rat-ings and reviews.

The best use of social media is in market-ing, making the presence of the brand feltacross the platform. For us, this is essentiallythe next big thing.

Development of newer marketsegments with a strongerfocus on MICEWe believe in the opportunities that lie in tier

Emerging Trends in the Business

SOCIAL MEDIA AND DIGITALMARKETING TAKE LEADDilip Puri talks about the brand Starwood, the relevance of social

media and digital marketing in the hospitality industry.

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2 markets. Today's tier 2 markets are tomor-row's tier 1 and we want to be in thesemarkets before they reach the point of inflec-tion. Some of these markets are beginning tocreate demand with newer segments purelybecause of the quality of the kind of hotel thatexists. A good example of this is Le MeridienCoimbatore which we opened in November.The city did not have a world class hotel withthis kind of MICE facilities. Today we see largescale medical conferences taking place in thecity because there is a hotel that provides thenecessary facilities to do this. These hotels willcreate their own demand we believe.

Substituting traditionalmarkets of US and Europe withemerging markets and thedomestic marketsWe have seen how some markets like the USand Europe have been more severely affectedby the recession, If we are not able to substi-tute those markets, it would be a hugechallenge. For us, the whole question boilsdown to this: If the British, the Germans andthe Americans aren't travelling, then who istravelling? Clearly you can see a lot moreAsians are travelling. So are we able to makeinroads into the Chinese markets, the Japa-nese market, and the South East Asian market– what we call the intra-regional travel? To me,that is a huge challenge. We don't see the re-duction in demand from the traditionalmarkets to be a big concern because they areclearly being substituted by the emergingmarkets within India and within Asia Pacific.In most of our hotels in the big gateway citiesas well as in the smaller tier 2 markets, wehave already begun to substitute a lot of theinternational business with domestic business.

Stronger focus on attractingand retaining talentTo me the battle for market share in the fu-ture will not be over the guest; it will befought over talent. Companies that havemore robust strategies in place to acquire,retain and nurture talent are the ones thatwill succeed. Being a global company, oneof the big opportunities we have is we canbring the best practices from all over theworld into this country.

One of the things that we do very well isnot just look at hiring the best people, butseeing how we can make them more produc-tive. Productivity is a function of training, it isa function of making sure that you have en-

Social media, we believe isfast becoming a keydistribution channel.

There is a lot ofinformation that existsthere about our guests,

their needs andexpectations and their

feedback. It is quick and isreal time. More

importantly it is viral.

DILIP PURIMD, INDIA & REGIONAL VP, SOUTH ASIA

SIGNS OF OUR TIMES

Brand differentiation key tocompetitive edge and consumerengagementGlobalisation and all that comes with it, in-cluding billions of new travellers and nextgenerations connected via social networks,translates into a truly global consumer basewith an unprecedented appetite for globaland highly differentiated lifestyle brands.

Starwood’s unique approach to brand-ing – segmenting brands by lifestyle vs.price - appeals to growing brand-centricconsumers around the globe. Brands areno longer just a guarantee of reliability – be-ing a nice but generic hotel is not enough.Brands today need to have Personality, Pur-pose and Personalisation.

Starwood’s business model and culture arebuilt around owning the hearts and minds ofour guests and creating value for owners.

Our nine distinct and compelling brandsstand out in a sea of sameness.The wellspringof Starwood’s lifestyle brand strategy datesback to the launch of W in 1998, and we'vekept the flame of innovation burning brightlywith the launch of Aloft and Element. Westinproved that a distinct brand personality in amainstream upper-upscale space can create acategory killer, uniquely positioned to ownwellness – a $2 trillion industry – in the hotelspace. The acquisition of Le Meridien showedhow Starwood could breathe new life into alanguishing brand, reinventing the brand for agrowing, global creative class. With Sheratonwe’ve brought today’s sense of personality toan established brand that grew up in the eraof reliability. The $6 billion revitalisation andSheraton’s repositioning as The World’s Gath-ering Space have translated into positivebusiness results. Four Points by Sheraton isdrafting off of Sheraton’s success, and its pipe-line of high quality new build constructioncontinues to elevate the brand, which is alsoa great conversion play.

Starwood more and more dominates the lux-ury space, and between St. Regis, The LuxuryCollection and W we have more luxury hotelsthan any other hotel company, including RitzCarlton and Four Seasons. We are well posi-tioned to take advantage of wealth creationaround the world which is fueling new demandfor luxury – 70% of our pipeline for St. Regis andThe Luxury Collection is in emerging markets.

Starwood has the scale to invest in brand-building, the financial resources to takeadvantage of opportunities and the globalpresence to grow wherever demand grows. ■

gaged employees, you have happy employ-ees because it automatically makes theemployee work harder. This is possible withthe kind of tools we have today. For exam-ple, we continuously do employeesatisfaction surveys in our hotels. With Star-wood Careers when we look at highpotential employees, whether at an associatelevel or a management level, we actuallylook at the employee and say I got to makethis guy grow; I got to give him a career path,make sure that his aspirations are fulfilled. Sowe will take him on as a high potential can-didate and put him on a track that says 12months from now these are the skills he musthave acquired, 18 months from now, this isthe new position he must be in, so that hecan see an opportunity for growing, not justfor a year or two years but across his entirecareer with Starwood.

So for us it is not about hiring for a partic-ular position but it is about hiring theemployee so that we can retain that talent fora long time because we invest a lot of mon-ey in training the employees.

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Growing Economy Gives Rise to Domestic Travel

HOTEL CHAINS LOOK ATINDIA FOR GROWTH

This is an interesting time for the ho-tel industry in India. With a robusttrend in the tourism industry, thehotel industry in India has witnessed

a rise in growth, business opportunities and el-evating room occupancy. The hotel industry isexpanding worldwide, placing India as thesecond-fastest growing tourism market in theworld. The thriving economy and increasedbusiness opportunities in India have acted asa boon for Indian hotel industry. The arrivalof low cost airlines and the associated pricewars have given domestic tourists a host ofoptions. The increase in tourism and risingforeign and domestic tourists have lead tothe growth of the Indian hospitality market,creating a perfect opportunity for the players,domestic and international. Even today, In-dia faces a huge challenge of being “underroomed” while the economy is growing rap-idly. This certainly provides a hugeopportunity for hotel sector as a whole. Withmore hospitality players entering the market,it would definitely bridge the demand-supplygap and leverage the opportunity, making In-dia, the ideal market for all.

Another trend that is emerging is theMICE segment that has immense potentialand provides tremendous growth opportuni-ty in India for the sale of several hundred

room nights as opposed to few by the tran-sient travellers. India’s growing strength inthe information technology, bio-technology,pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectorshas prompted prominent international bod-ies to host trade shows and conventions inthe country and similar prominence is alsoexpected in the coming years. The Hydera-bad International Convention Centre (HICC)by Accor is India’s only branded large scaleconvention facility today.

While the potential of hotel industry is great,there are several constraints for the industry togrow. In India, setting up of hotels is a highlycapital-intensive process, involving significantconstruction and planning activity. This sectorhas definitely witnessed a more challengingbusiness pick up due to emerging deceleratingeconomic trends both nationally and globally.Challenges that the industry has faced in thelast one year has been a result of the ongoingfinancial meltdown, delay in projects and ho-tel openings impacting the flow of business,retaining trained staff from competition, newsupply across all markets and softening de-mand resulting in price wars.

India is today in the defining stages of thebusiness of hospitality, with unlimited tour-ism and untapped business prospects. Hotelindustry in this region is certainly poised fora growth phase. The standards of facilitiesand services offered have evolved over thelast decade towards the extensive use oftechnology, environment friendly services,pricing, market segmentation, regional pref-erences, etc. The Indian hotel market issurely to double in size in the coming years.With increase in foreign tourist arrivals, thepopularity of heritage sites, and internation-al events such as the Commonwealth Games,Formula 1 being held in the country, it isbound to lead to the growth in the IndianHospitality market hence making it a perfectopportunity for all players. ■

The rising foreign anddomestic tourists have leadto the growth of the Indianhospitality market, creating

a perfect opportunity foreveryone. Even today, India

faces a huge challenge ofbeing “under roomed”while the economy is

growing rapidly.

JEAN-MICHEL CASSÉSENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS

Jean-Michel Cassé talks about Accor India and the potential Indian hospitalityindustry has and the challenges that need to be countered.

SIGNS OF OUR TIMES


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● Most of the future expansion in India willbe by multinational hotel companies in themidscale category.

● With the supply of hotel rooms exceedingthe demand in the metropolitan andsecondary cities, there will be pressure onRev PARS.

● Cost of operations will increase due toincrease in HLP and payroll. EBIDTA’s willbe under stress.

● Due to scarce availability of land downtown in the metropolitan and secondarycities, most hotels will come up in thesuburban areas.

● Hotel expansion is not going to be as ro-bust as has been in the last few years. This isbecause of high cost and scarcity of land, highinterest cost and the supply of hotel roomsbeing in excess of demand for hotel rooms.

● With bottom lines of most companiesbeing under stress, companies are cuttingdown on travel and the per diem spend byexecutives travelling and staying at hotels.This will result in reduction in ARR's in allhotel categories.

● Loyalty programmes are going to be a bigdriver of business going forward.

● Because of high cost of land, there will bea lot of commercial cum hotel projects beingdeveloped.

● Food and Beverage outlets in hotels willbe limited because of high taxes.

● The largest driver of demand will be thedomestic business and leisure traveller. Theywill predominantly stay at budget hotels.

● New destinations for leisure travel and ho-tels at these locations will be limited becauseof the lack of infrastructure, specially poorroad access. The government is facing a fi-nancial crunch and will go slow on thedevelopment of infrastructure.

● There is not going to be much growth inthe arrival of international tourists to India.This is because of new destinations openingup in Middle East and South East Asia, SriLanka in particular.

● There will be an acute shortage oftrained manpower for hotels. The manpow-er costs are also going to escalatesubstantially. ■

There is not going to bemuch growth in the

arrival of internationaltourists to India. This is

because of newdestinations opening upin Middle East and South

East Asia, Sri Lanka inparticular.

ASHOK KHANNAMANAGING DIRECTOR,

IHHR HOSPITALITY

Ashok Khanna gives us a quick rundown on the hospitality scene in India,the trends, the challenges and the future outlook.

Key Indicators for the Business

EXPANSION WILL SLOW DOWN;FOCUS ON SUBURBAN AREAS

SIGNS OF OUR TIMES

38


Say ‘Goodbye’ to expensive imports:Halibut, John Dory, Chilean seabass, blue fin tuna on star eaterymenus slowly will take a back seat

to Indian salmon, Pomfret, White cod, snap-per, all bountiful in the sub- continents coastline. Flavour, freshness and adaptive to localrecipes, this catch so much more suited tothe Indian cuisine repertoire. An ever awarepopulace and social activists demands thischange of thought and taste. Diners, exposed

to evolving cooking styles of local fish, offer-ing unusual flavours, condiments andtextures than earlier, welcome this trend.

Secular Cuisine – an Idea CalledIndiaIndia being a multicultural and secularthrough its historical dictates showcases avariation and style every 500km. The Mon-gols brought in their style – East-Indians fromtheir Portuguese heritage had no qualms

with pork and tenderloin, Iranians are theprecursors of today’s micro “parsi” influence.Turko -Afghans of undivided India are a leg-end for their kababs and breads, a hugesuccess across the subcontinent. In eachcase, local flavours and practices combinedover centuries with the dominant flavours ofcenturies old India.

Today’s menus must not disinherit ourinheritance and therefore must also includeour former colonists.

Changing Trends in Food

INVENTIVE CUISINE OFFERSNEW AVENUES IN F&B

SIGNS OF OUR TIMES

Gautam Anand talks about the history and evolution of food trends in India.

Bukhara, the much acclaimed North-WestFrontier restaurant at ITC Maurya.


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SIGNS OF OUR TIMES

I envisage a French quarter, Dutch fla-vours British puddings and Portuguese seafood dishes to make menus more compositeand putting at ease, India and her world.

Staging Experience – Your Worldas a Theatre...

Stage an experience through Product for-mulation in restaurant brands and publicspaces and therefore bringing alive experi-ences that sell, incorporating local/globalflavours, a cast of characters & rituals whichprovide memorable moments.

In sum, an experience occurs when acompany intentionally uses services as thestage, and goods as props, to engage individ-ual customers in a way that creates amemorable event. Commodities are fungi-ble, goods tangible, services intangible andexperiences memorable

Just imagine in an Asian restaurant withgeishas in kimonos, Singapore girls in sa-rongs, steward with Chinese collars

Uber Luxury on the Table TopIn the footsteps of the grand Mughals,

maharajas and learning from our British past,whence celebration and banqueting fol-lowed wins in the battlefield or in thecorporate field.

For such gatherings, large shining silvercandelabras, huge silver trays of roast, co-lourful porcelain and clinking cut glass ruledthe table tops.

In our time, from the turn to the 21st cen-tury, this has changed to: subtle design onchina that brings out graciously presentedfood on it. Uncut crystal has replaced heavycut lead crystal wine glasses to an extent thatglasses are now shaped to bring out the fla-vour of the chardonnays and sauvignonsand as many more...

At any rate our approach is to celebratethe world’s finest toppings on our tables.

Ancient Indian Cuisine – EatAncient...

Hinduism is built on mythology incahoots with food. Brahma, the creator ofuniverse, also created the Ayurveda, thestrongest influence on Indian cuisine tilldate. It depended upon the philosophy oftaste, perennial availability and seasonalavailability of the fruits and vegetablesaccording to the seasons in the Indiancalendar. It not only gave the knowledge forhealthy life but also gave the guidelines to

If there is modern Indiancuisine we can speak of, the

credit and evolution is due tothe adventurous vision of

young chefs of Indian origin.Young chefs fighting for

survival in the tradition boundIndian mindset ventured todistant shores, showcasedtheir latent skills and evensurpassed their mentors.

GAUTAM ANANDVICE PRESIDENT – PRE-OPENING

OPERATIONS, ITC HOTELS

combine the correct taste, textures, nutrientswith maximising the natural resources bestsuited for our well being. Aryans helpeddiscovering barley, rice, moong lentil,masoor lentil, black eyed beans, jackfruits,yam and pomegranate. With Gupta dynastycame the golden age, bronze and copperutensils, beans, wheat, pumpkin and gourds.Brahmin became the temple cooks andserved Prasada. With Mughals, thesmoothening of gravies, the art of grindingspices, saffron, ittar and introduction ofonion and garlic originated. After British Raj,“The Club Culture and Raj cooking” cameinto fashion. Indian cuisine took a new turnwith categorising its branches according tothe regions of India.

Street Cuisine. Market cafesNo longer has the street food remained to thehouse wives for a gossiping and socialisingentertainment. Once who were called hawk-ers are now the most looked out for in thewhole of India. North is a gourmet’s delightserving Chaats, Jalebis, Matra Kulcha Kulfi,Nimish etc. Mughals pristined us with Seekh,Shaami, Burra, Nihari, Biryanis etc. The cityof Joy also owns the origin of Nizam’s kathi.Their favourite invention Jhaal Moodi was avariation to Bhel Puri of the West. This cul-ture moved toward the East and transformedinto Aloo Dum and Dahi Bora. The simpleGol Gappa in Dilli becomes and Puchka inthe east and Pani Puri in the west. Everynook and corner can be smelled of Maachand Chingri Bhaaja. The south dots us withwhat they call as “Tiffin” namely

Idli, Medu Vada, Sambhar, Dosa, at nom-inal price. With the welcome of Pao in theWest, Usal, Missal, Bonda and Samosa got theircompany with it. Ragda Pattice from Gujaratgot converted into Pao Bhaji and Bonda toVada Pao. Street food of India has freed itselffrom the trappings of the category of “Snacks”to step into the area of full-sized menu meals.

Modern Indian CuisineIf there is modern Indian cuisine we canspeak of, the credit and evolution is due to

No longer has the street food remained to the house wives for agossiping and socialising entertainment. Once who were calledhawkers are now the most looked out for in the whole of India. Northis a gourmet’s delight serving Chaats, Jalebis etc.

the adventurous vision of young chefs of In-dian origin. Young chefs fighting for survivalin the tradition bound Indian mindset ven-tured to distant shores, showcased theirlatent skills and even surpassed their “ustad”mentors, gaining recognition and accep-tance in the fast paced world of globalcuisine. Most, successfully invested theirskills in entrepreneurship, to the acclaim ofWestern critics, achieving financial successand visibility. Back home in India, on visitstheir efforts are lauded by food writers andcritics. Their style is not so much a bank ofnew tastes or recipes, but a fresh modern out-look at presentation and combination styles.Do not call this fusion as the world recognis-es it, instead call it inventive. ■

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SIGNS OF OUR TIMES

GROWING ECONOMY TO SPURINCREASE IN HOSPITALITY

Encouraging Tourism Numbers

With the fortunes of the hospital-ity industry inextricably linkedto the tourism industry, thegrowth in the tourism

industry has fueled the growth of Indianhospitality industry. Ranked as the 12thmost attractive tourist destination in Asiaand 68th in the world, India welcomesaround 6 million international visitors everyyear and nearly 562 million domestictourists. The increasing numbers of bothdomestic as well as international touristshave been very encouraging for the Indiantravel and hospitality sector which hasnearly doubled during the last three years.To cater to the huge influx of travellers,India currently has over 200,000 hotel roomsspread across hotel categories and guest-houses.

Further, growth of Indian economy hasresulted in more disposable income withmiddle class, thereby promptingincreasingly large number of people tospend money on travelling and hotels.Advent of corporate incentive travel and theMNCs in India has also boosted theprospects for hospitality in the country. The

heritage, the hotels will offer authentic Thaiexperiences fused with Indian hospitality inits services.

The first property under this tie-up, DDND,is set to be launched in the last quarter of thisyear, in New Delhi. This is a very hi-end lux-ury property. Bird Group has also acquiredRoyal Park Hotel in London which is yetagain a niche property.

Other international hotel chains are alsotapping on to this market and offering excit-ing packages to lure the new age traveller.There is a proliferation of luxury villas andspas in exotic locations like Kerela, Rajast-han and Goa to cater to this demand. Hotelsare also offering fine services like wine tast-ing, cabaret shows, gondola & Mercedesrides to attract tourists who look for exclusiv-ity and luxury.

The growth of the Indian economy hasnot only boosted business prospects in majorcities but also in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Thishas led to an aggressive increase in hoteldevelopment activity and provided avenuesfor expansion of various hotel brands. Withthe growth of micro-markets, people are nowopting to stay at hotels located closer to theirplace of work, thereby saving time intraveling across the city. The growth of theseindependent micro-markets has boosted theexistence of multiple hotels of differentcategories in these cities. Marketing 'brandIndia' under several subsets such as culturaltourism, medical tourism, religious circuits,etc., has also opened the market for manyhotel chains in remote locations.

India has proven the inherent strength ofits economy and its consumer base of over abillion people. Developments like the hospi-tality district at Delhi's international airport,large format sporting events, medical tourismand the nationwide launch of third genera-tion (3G) telecom services has further fuelledthe hospitality sector. ■

Growth of Indian economyhas resulted in more

disposable income withmiddle class, thereby

prompting increasinglylarge number of people tospend money on travelling

and hotels. Advent ofMNCs in India has also

boosted the prospects forhospitality in the country.

ANKUR BHATIAEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BIRD GROUP

Ankur Bhatia explains how the burgeoning middle class and growingeconomy are fuelling the growth of hotels in the country.

fast-growing HNIs in India has led to theadvent of aspirational luxury travellers.

Owing to this, a few international brandshave already vested their interests inthe country. Dusit Thani is one suchinternational brand which has tied up withBird group under the brand Dusit-BirdHotels. Considering that the country hasdifferent categories of cities, Dusit with itsvarious brand-fits will comply with the varieddemand offering a range of hotels that caterto different needs. Priding itself on Thai

Highlights…❏ The growth of the Indianeconomy has not only boostedbusiness prospects in major citiesbut also in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.This has led to an aggressiveincrease in hotel developmentactivity and provided avenues forexpansion of various hotel brands.With the growth of micro-markets,people are now opting to stay athotels located closer to their placeof work, thereby saving time intraveling across the city.


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SIGNS OF OUR TIMES

HERITAGE HOTELS NEEDGOVERNMENT SUPPORT

Staying in a heritage hotel is an essen-tial part of the itinerary of foreigntourists attracted by India’s rich architectural legacy. Heritage hotels,

therefore, are not just accommodations butan experience. However, there are challeng-es galore in the business of promoting thisexperience.

According to Rakesh Mathur, ex-presi-dent WelcomHeritage, now director andprincipal advisor Zinc InVision Hospitality,Crossroads Hotels and CIE Hospitality “One ofthe biggest hurdles is the lack infrastructure,issues like shortage of electricity, lack ofskilled manpower, lack of proper public utili-ties like drainage and sewage systems make itimpossible for people to maintain heritageproperties. Also, most of the heritage proper-ties are in rural and remote areas, there is alack of connectivity to these areas, if there isno transport available, how can one reach thedestination.” Mathur pointed out that at a re-cently held FICCI and MP Tourism seminar inKhajuraho, the main topic of discussion wasthe lack of infrastructure that affected thegrowth of tourism and particularly heritagetourism. In addition, Mathur said that it is im-

not be compared and the government needsto treat both of them differently. For exam-ple, the license fee for the bars in thesehotels should be lowered; it should not be ashigh as it is for the city hotels.”

“One needs to keep in mind that theseheritage buildings are old and they were notconstructed with a hotel in mind. The con-struction was completely different and nowyears or probably centuries later some ofthese buildings are in decrepit condition.Since maintaining these properties requireshuge costs, there must be special schemeslike ease in getting loans on lower rate of in-terests,” he added.

There are several other problems thatplague the heritage tourism industry. Redtape is one major hurdle. The governmentneeds to broaden its approach on peopleacquiring these properties. The policies arevery long-winded and there are number ofclearances required to acquire a propertylike this. On the other hand, there are manygovernment offices that operate out of someof these old heritage buildings, consequent-ly they are ill-maintained. “Instead ofacquiring these buildings for official purpos-es government should construct more officespaces and lease out these buildings to bemaintained as heritage properties. It can bea public private partnership, there are manyproperties that successfully work on thatmodel,” said Mathur.

The government needs to strengthen itspolicies and aid the restoration and mainte-nance of heritage properties by providingsubsidies and giving various other incentives.There is a huge scope of development and thegovernment needs to work in tandem withprivate players to bring about that growth inheritage tourism. With a well thought out gov-ernment approach heritage properties can geta boost, and consequently tourism in thecountry can also get the right push. ■

Lack of infrastructure is one of the biggest challenges in developingheritage hotels in the country, says Rakesh Mathur.

Special Concerns for Special Interest Travel

One needs to keep in mindthat these heritage buildings

are old and they were notconstructed with a hotel inmind. The construction was

completely different andnow years or probablycenturies later some ofthese buildings are in

decrepit condition.

RAKESH MATHUREX-PRESIDENT, ITC WELCOMHERITAGE NOW

DIRECTOR & PRINCIPAL ADVISOR,ZINC INVISION HOSPITALITY

portant to merge our natural heritage with theheritage in rural areas; natural heritage is in-trinsically related to the heritage buildings andproperties and if heritage properties have tobe developed into hotels, the natural areassurrounding them should be taken care of.

Mathur suggests that the governmentshould give incentives and subsidies so thatit is easy to maintain these properties. Mathursaid, “There is a difference between a heri-tage hotel that works on seasonal basis anda proper city hotel. Both the properties can-

Highlights…❏ There are several other problemsthat plague the heritage tourismindustry. Red tape is one majorhurdle. The government needs tobroaden its approach on peopleacquiring these properties. Thepolicies are very long-winded andthere are number of clearancesrequired to acquire a property likethis. On the other hand, there aremany government offices thatoperate out of some of these oldheritage buildings, consequently theyare ill-maintained.

42



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44


Hotels in India are increasingly outsourcing everything from laundry operations tohousekeeping and spa to IT. The next buzz expected to storm theindustry will be to outsource the restaurants and bars in hotels,

says Prasanjit Singh, MD, HVS F&B Services India.

In your opinion, should hotelrestaurants be outsourced?In the last five years, the room inventory inmost Indian cities has multiplied exponential-ly. The hunger of international hotel brands toenter the Indian market is expected to bring inrationalization of room rates and a price waris inevitable. This competitive market environ-ment will put pressure on Indian hotelmanagers to effectively control departmental

costs as well as the overall GOP.Currently, most hotels in India outsource

the following functions – Housekeeping,Kitchen Stewarding, Security and Valet/Chauffer service. The next buzz word expect-ed to storm the industry will be to outsourcethe restaurants and bars in hotels. The envi-ronment is perfect for this transition.Outsourcing restaurants and bars will be anoption for new hotels as well as existing ho-

SIGNS OF OUR TIMES

F&B Business

OUTSOURCING CAN GROWSERVICE & PROFITABILITY

tels looking to renovate or re-engineer theirFood and Beverage function.

What are the benefits outsourcingcan offer the hotels?The Food and Beverage function, commandsattention because of its importance to guestsatisfaction and brand management. Out-sourcing partnerships typically bring togetherorganisations with diverse capabilities. Part-


| 45

nering with well known celebrity chefs doesenhance the image of a hotel among the lo-cals thus creating a buzz. This is a veryimportant aspect for restaurant managementas the common saying “people bring in morepeople” really works towards the success ofa Food and Beverage brand.

The Indian consumer is getting more andmore brand conscious. In addition to abrand identity, most operators find thatguests are not only more willing to patronisehigh-street brands conveniently situated with-in the hotel, but they are also willing to paymore for the privilege of dining with a famil-iar concept. Increased willingness to dinecoupled with increased willingness to spendresults in increased revenues.

Hotels introducing a branded restaurantinto their property often experience higherexternal traffic. Market exposure translatesinto increased outlet revenue and enhancedcustomer perception of the Food and Bever-age outlet brand name, as well as enhancedcustomer perception of the hotel itself. Thus,the net result of rebranding and repositioning

SIGNS OF OUR TIMES

The Food and Beveragefunction, commands

attention because of itsimportance to guest

satisfaction and brandmanagement.Outsourcing

partnerships typicallybring together

organisations withdiverse capabilities.

PRASANJIT SINGHMANAGING DIRECTOR

can be increased profit and enhanced share-holder value.

What are the prior considerationsto be made before deciding tooutsource hotel restaurants?Competition: No outsourcing arrangementwill work, unless there is market demand.Competitive analysis should include restau-rants in the neighbourhood hotels, as well asstand-alone restaurants in the area. Profitabil-ity issues and pricing a new outlet also mustbe considered in the market context. Thosedays are gone when the customer was will-ing to pay more money at hotel restaurantsthan stand alone brands.

Marketing: The hotelier and restaurateurmust establish responsibility for marketingthe new concept. Frequently hotels agree toadvertise the operator in the guestrooms, al-though the outlet typically absorbs the costof signage in the rooms and throughout thehotel. Additionally, the restaurateur typicallyassumes responsibility and accountability forall external advertising.

Guest Expectations: The goal of

outsourcing F&B operations is to enhanceprofitability by increasing internal as well asexternal traffic, without losing the currentcustomer base. It is essential to considerguest reaction to the change in F&Bconcept. If a negative reaction isanticipated, a hotelier risks losing itscustomer base and thus future earningpotential to the competition.

Management Styles: It is important tolook at both the local and corporate manage-ment styles of both the hotelier andrestaurateur. Incompatibility of the two stylescould result in a rocky relationship. In orderto avoid this friction, some hotels have foundit advantageous to appoint the General Man-ager of the restaurant to the hotel’s executiveteam, thereby creating a sense of responsibil-ity and belonging and enhancingrelationships throughout the organisation.

Terms of the Contract: The operationalterms of the contract must be set out in detail.

Quality standards and monitoring mechanismsshould be detailed in addition to agreeing onhours of operations. Concessions affecting prof-itability occasionally need to be made in orderto solidify a working relationship.

What are the different outsourcingoptions available to hotels?

Leasing – A hotel leases a section of itsspace, preferably with self-contained back-of-the-house areas in exchange for a flat fee and/or a percentage of sales. The hotel benefits byreceiving a guaranteed rent, plus a revenue“top-up” each month. The landlord, however,loses control of F&B operations. Managementmust agree to let someone else run the show.

Franchising – This option suits a hotelseeking to change a restaurant concept with-out investing in an internal and potentiallyuntested concept. The hotel buys an estab-lished brand and system for a fee. Theprocess begins with an upfront payment - abuy-in to the right to operate a better knownand more profitable concept. Frequently, thefranchisor requires the hotel to make an ad-ditional payment for a capital investment,

requiring a purchase of specified equipment.Under the franchising terms, the hotel paysthe franchisor a royalty fee, usually based ona percentage of sales, for the privilege of us-ing the name and resources.

Joint Venture – This is a variant of fran-chising and contracting. The hotelier creates astrategic alliance with a known and successfulrestaurateur. The two parties create a separatefinancial company, which is appointed as thelessee of the restaurant. The new organisation,the restaurant lessee., then outsources the F&Boperations to the restaurateur. Typically thehotel provides the capital expenditures and therestaurateur brings intellectual property andexpertise. The two parties share the successesand the related profits.

Proprietary Brands – Hotel chains cancreate a proprietary brand, introducing theconcept into all of its properties. This ap-proach appeals to guests who enjoyconsistency throughout a hotel chain. ■

The goal of outsourcing F&B operations is to enhance profitability byincreasing internal as well as external traffic, without losing thecurrent customer base. It is essential to consider guest reaction tothe change in F&B concept.

46


HVS and WTTC Release

STUDY ON HOTELINDUSTRY STATUS BY 2021

The paper quantifies the industry’s requirements and support policiesneeded to facilitate the growth of the hospitality sector by 2021.

HOSPITALITY REPORT

HVS, the world’s leading hospitality consulting and services organisation, in collaboration withWTTC, India Initiative, has re-

leased a White Paper on “Hotel RoomSupply, Capital Investment and ManpowerRequirement by 2021”.

The summarised findings of the white-pa-per are that in ten years, the hospitality sectorin India will need 180,000 additional rooms,

force because they usually have more roomsper hotel than a first-class or luxury hotel,can be built faster and cheaper in multiplemicro-markets as well as in most Tier I, TierII and Tier III cities, it said. The existing stockof hotel inventory is 1,63,038 rooms, addingthat the Indian average room inventory is lessthan 15 per cent of the average inventory ofAsia Pacific and other global cities. Capitalinvestment and the manpower are two other

$25.5 billion for constructing these roomsand about 211,000 people to operate them.It further predicts that by 2021, global travelindustry would see 1,362 billion travellers, ofwhich India is expected to account for0.8 per cent.

The domestic travellers will grow at 8 percent annually to 1.735 billion by 2021 andIndia would need a total of 3, 51,540 roomsby 2021. Budget hotels will be the driving


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HOSPITALITY REPORT

The White Paper is of vitalimportance for the

stakeholders of the tourismsector in India, especiallywith the attention that thesector has received in the

12th Five Year Plan, thePaper will amplify the

necessary considerationsthat the hospitality sector

has been demanding.

VIKRAM MADHOKCHAIRPERSON

critical aspects. The additional investment inhospitality in the country would be aroundRs 1,27,600 crore by 2021.

Talking about the issues raised by the pa-per, Manav Thadani, MRICS, chairman, HVSSouth Asia, says: “While in recent months thegovernment, and particularly the TourismMinistry, has made great strides, there is muchground that still needs to be covered. Wehope this report services as one of the tools forimplementation and that the Indian hospital-ity community will be able to utilise thispublication to work with the government tofind areas where holes need to be plugged

and bridges needed to strengthen.”“The White Paper is of vital importance for

the stakeholders of the tourism sector in India,especially so with the attention and overturesthat the sector has received in the 12th FiveYear Plan of the Government of India. ThisPaper will amplify the necessary consider-ations that the hospitality sector in India hasbeen demanding.” says Vikram Madhok,chairperson, WTTC, India Initiative.

Tourism, says the paper, is an intenselycompetitive, focused, rapidly evolving busi-ness sector. The qualitative and quantitativecharacteristics of the supply of accommoda-

“While in recent months the government, and particularly the TourismMinistry, has made great strides, there is much ground that still needs tobe covered. We hope this report services as one of the tools forimplementation, says Manav Thadani, MRICS, Chairman, HVS South Asia.

tion have a direct bearing on the overall suc-cess and development of tourism. Therefore,in order to ensure that the supply of accom-modation contributes effectively to tourismdevelopment plans and objectives, it is ratio-nal that the development of theaccommodation sector should be the prima-ry element of the overall destinationplanning process. “Tourism has an immensepotential with incredible opportunities andHVS has rightfully opened the window to thisdeveloping scenario. The India State RankingSurvey 2011 is another significant work thatHVS has introduced. The States and UnionTerritories should closely examine the pa-rameters on which they are ranked andevolve better mechanisms to promote tour-ism, which can significantly contribute to theeconomy of the State. Each of our States andUnion Territories has considerable wealth intourism and opportunities needs to be ex-plored in a planned manner. WTTCII looksforward to closely working with HVS in fu-ture on these strategic policy approaches,”says Sujit Banerjee, secretary general,WTTC, India Initiative. ■

48


COMPANY PROFILE

Swosti Group

OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ORISSAAS TOURIST HOTSPOT

Orissa has a tremendous tourism potential and can be the next mostattractive tourist destination in India, says JK Mohanty. He

shares with us the group’s plan for the destination.

Swosti has continuouslyendeavoured to surpass its

own standards andcommitment to excellence.We have our own group ofprofessionals to handle allthe travel related needs ofits guests. Swosti Travels

has its unique level ofservice excellence in

introducing travelpackage MICE.

J.K. MOHANTYCHAIRMAN AND MANAGING DIRECTOR

Orissa is emerging as a prime tour-ist destination of the country hav-ing a strong infrastructure base tohost guests from abroad and In-

dia. Swosti Group is dedicated to developingit as a popular tourist destination, taking careof every aspect -- whether it is quality accom-modation, or visiting destination in luxury orfinding new ways to add little adventure.

With the only platinum class of hotels,Swosti Premium has redefined hospitality

scene in Orissa. In Eastern India, Swostigroup has largest convention hall. TheSwostiPremium offers facilities in the roomand consumables are of superior qualities inits 147 Royal rooms, 12 Executives conven-tion halls of various capacities, Scottish Bar,Ladies Club etc.

Swosti Premium is transforming itself asthe hi-tech leisure, corporate and conventionabode with more value added customer fa-cilities from wi-fi to refurbished ayurvedic,spa, economic packages and much more.The Plaza club at Swosti Premium with thestate of art sound &light discotheque, pool &billiards, swimming pool, health club, restau-rants & bar offers an all-time experience.

The premier luxury hotel Swosti located inthe heart of city Bhubaneswar has been trans-formed into a boutique hotel with its newmulti cuisine restaurant, coffee shop and therestobar. Aqua, the multi cuisine restaurantserves Indian, Pan Asian, North Frontier andMediterranean cuisines along with a goodcollection of wines. Café d Art, a unique con-cept has been introduced in Bhubaneswar, a

gallery attached to the coffee shop where theguest will have the option to buy art workfrom the displayed artifacts. Marina, the resto-bar has been designed keeping in mind theneeds of the business traveller as well as thenew tech generation.

Swosti has continuously endeavoured tosurpass its own standards and commitmentto excellence. We have our own group ofprofessionals to handle all the travel relatedneeds of its guests. Swosti Travels has itsunique level of service excellence in intro-ducing travel package MICE.

Beside Swosti Palm Resort at Gopalpur onsea with 26 air-conditioned rooms, confer-ence facilities we are planning to set resorts inChilika, which would comprise 150 cottagesand will provide 10 house boats, an herbalgarden, golf course, amphitheater, banquetingfacilities, fishing pond and state of art spa.

We are setting up another resort atPuri will have 98 rooms. Similarly, a modernhotel is proposed in Satpada, the ecotourist center, which is renowned for itsdolphins. ■


| 49

With metro cities getting saturated, small cities arecatching the attention of travellers and hoteliers

alike. Rahul Rohit, GM – HK Clarks Inn Amritsarlists out the advantages these cities offer.

MARKETING AND MANAGINGHOTELS IN SMALLER CITIES

With increased industrialisation and ris-ing salaries of the middle class, the tierII and III cities have become focus ar-

eas among top hotel brands in India forexpansion. Economic advancement and a signif-icant growth of business activities in India havenecessitated frequent travel. The Indian middleclass with more disposable income, increased fo-cus in leisure and travel activities has set in amodification in consumer profiles. With the mid-dle class travelling all over the world, itsawareness about quality of services and facilitiesprovided in hotels has grown; it demands prod-ucts of the same level in tier II and tier III cities.

The best possible mode to penetrate into thesemarkets is to sign a management contract with lo-cal owners as it requires less investment and lowpromotional and operational costs. The untappedpotential is also realised. Here, the local ownersget advantage of the technical know-how of thebrand which is required to build a snag free ho-tel with impetus on energy conservation usingoperationally suited interiors and equipments.Most hotel brands have sales offices in metroswhich feed in business to these markets as mostof the head offices of corporate houses are basedthere. The nationwide contracting is done for allthe hotels in the chain with these big corporatehouses. The hotel brands also tie-up with travelagents in metros to get business for these areas.Therefore, the local owners get to reach a muchbigger market for their product when they joinhands with hotel brands. What’s more, there is anadvantage regarding attracting skilled profession-als to these smaller cities. As the hotel brandshave a presence all over the nation, they have ac-cess to a larger pool of professionals for runningthe hotel which would have been difficult for thelocal owners to arrange.

The expansion for hotel brands in tier II and IIIcities is beneficial as it offers low rentals, invest-

“Best way tomarket the brand in

these cities is theutilisation of

regional and localmedia that reachout to the wider

section of thesociety. Labour in

such cities is easilyavailable and

cheaper than metrocities therebylowering the

operational cost ofthe venture.”

GUEST COLUMN

ments and infrastructures costs. Besides this, realestate is easily available and affordable with lowlease and acquisition costs. Marketing and promo-tional expenses are much more cost-effective thanin the metro cities. Best way to market the brand inthese cities is the utilisation of regional and localmedia that reach out to the wider section of thesociety. Labour in such cities is easily available andcheaper than metro cities thereby lowering the op-erational cost of the venture. Acquiring andrecruiting the man power also costs less here. Be-sides this, on the basis of the consumerdemographics of these cities, the hospitality brandsincorporate certain changes in their product andservice offerings in order to ensure profitability.

The most important thing to consider whileexpanding in these cities is to find the right prop-erty or a location to put the right branddepending upon the consumer demographicsthat are driving the business in that particularmarket place. A typical hotel size ranges from a40-60 room property with more importance givento the F&B outlets and banqueting space. TheARR ranges from Rs 2,000 - Rs 3,000. Unlike themetros, in these cities the F&B revenue, special-ly banqueting, forms a major chunk of the totalrevenue of the hotel. The hotels are being rede-fined with new concepts, innovations andstrategies. With changing mindset of consumersand operators, contemporary hotels of this cate-gory have taken a full U-turn with resolutecontrast. Now they are mini full-service hotels be-ing recognised as business class, compacted withbasic facilities for discerning business travellerstargeting a specific market segment of mid rankbusiness executives and price sensitive corpo-rate. These are competitive hospitality units thatdemonstrate professionalism and are reasonablypriced with good service, style and ambience.The market in these cities yearns for internation-al standards albeit with a local flavour. ■

50


A Gastronomic Delight at ChandraPadmanabhan’s Book Launch at the

Imperial Hotel, New Delhi

EVENTS & HAPPENINGS

The Imperial Hotel, New Delhi played host to a cosybook launch in March; ‘Southern Flavours’ by theacclaimed culinary author Chandra Padmanabhanat a launch cum culinary session. Her book explores

some of the best South Indian delicacies from Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. The event wasorganised by the Imperial Culinary Club in collaboration withWestland Ltd. The special live and interactive culinary sessionwas held on classic South Indian vegetarian cuisine wherePadmanabhan donned the Chef’s jacket for a select audienceincluding members of the press, members of the ImperialCulinary Club and the Westland representatives. Shedemonstrated the preparation of five of her favourite dishesfrom her new book – Paruppu Adai (mini lentil pancakes fromTamil Nadu), Ajiga Pulusu (curd curry from Andhra Pradesh),Masala Beans Poriyal (beans with spicy coconut from TamilNadu), Vellarikkai Kosumalli (fresh cucumber salad fromTamil Nadu and Karnataka) and Paal Payasam (the everpopular and famous milk dessert from Kerala). Throughout thesession, Padmanabhan kept the audience involved and rivetedwith witty banter and interesting anecdotes.

The Imperial Culinary Club is a fantastic initiative by the hotelto share a variety of delicacies with food enthusiasts and increaseawareness about multiple cuisines. A fortnightly affair, thisunique, interactive platform brings together the gastronome andthe cook. There have been almost 30 such sessions in the past.Not only do the sessions provide a gastronomic experience tothe members, they also help the Imperial Hotel create a niche inthe market. The hotel targets hi-end local clientele and providesthem with an F&B privilege card, participating certification anda chance to win the lucky draw. ■

by AARUSHI GUPTA

Vijay Wanchoo, senior vice president & GM, The Imperial and ChandraPadmanabhan unveil Southern Flavours.

Chandra Padmanabhan's culinary session.

Vijay Wanchoo gives complimentary vouchers to lucky draw winners.Audience at the event.


| 51

The Lalit Legacy Tower at The Lalit NewDelhi Unveiled Among Much Fanfare

EVENTS & HAPPENINGS

The Delhi glitterati were in full attendance at The Lalit,New Delhi when The Lalit Legacy Tower was unveiledby Dr. Jyotsna Suri, chairperson & managing director,The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group. The Champagne and

Caviar event saw the high and mighty grace the event. FromRohit Bal to Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons-Aman and AyanAli Bangash, celebrities from all walks were present at theunveiling.

After the initial round of viewing the tower, the celebratedartists, Jayasri Burman, Paresh Maity and Satish Gupta paintedlive at The Lalit Lounge while the champagne was being popped.According to Dr. Suri, “In the year 1988, we pioneered theconcept of creating an exclusive tower of suites for thediscerning business traveller. Twenty three years later, The Towergets a makeover and is now in a contemporary avatar, thoughretaining its glorious legacy.” The transformation process was ledby Dr. Suri herself wherein restoring the artifacts, refurbishing theexisting furniture, everything was done painstakingly by her.

The Lalit Legacy Tower offers 53 designer suites and 25 luxu-ry rooms and the accommodation is divided into followingcategories, The Lalit Luxury Room, the Lalit Business Suite, TheLalit Executive Suite, The Lalit Luxury Suite and The Lalit Lega-cy Suite. The star attraction although was The Lalit Lounge thatis on the 20th floor and provides 24 hours business services.

The refurbished suites have been curated by Dr Suri herselfand they draw their inspiration from the creations of the artistsJayasri Burman, Paresh Maity and Satish Gupta. The suites areluxurious in their comfort and provide exceptional services, likeexclusive express check-in, round- the- clock butler service, cus-tomised bar and room services, in-room high-tech kitchenettefacilities and complementary airport transfers. ■

by APRAJITA SHISHOO

Artists Paresh Maity and Satish Gupta painting live at The Lalit Legacy

Tower launch (1)Artist Jayasri Burman painting live at The Lalit Legacy Tower launch (2)

The entrance to the The Lalit Legacy Suite.

Dr Jyotsna Suri, chairperson & MD, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group alongwith L-R: Amitabh Kant, CEO & MD, DMICDC, Naresh Kapuria, director, art& culture, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group and artists Paresh Maity, JayasriBurman and Satish Gupta

52


People…Wyndham Hotel Group

Frank Trampert has been appointedmanaging director of the AsiaPacific region of Wyndham HotelGroup. He will oversee operations,development and execution ofcross-functional brand initiatives inthe Asia Pacific region.

Frank was previously associatedwith Carlson Hotels in Australia, Eu-rope, Singapore and USA in differentcapacities including vice president

of distribution services and IT and executive vice president of reve-nue generation. He also served as President of Circos Brand Karma

in Singapore.

Kenilworth Resort& SpaRajeev Sharma has been appointedgeneral manager of KenilworthResort & Spa, Goa. Rajeev willoverlook operations for the hotel.

He brings with him an experi-ence of over 25 years in thehospitality industry. He has held anumber of senior positions and hasbeen associated with major hotelbrands such as Hyatt Regency in

Delhi, Imperial Hotel in Delhi, Sarova in Kenya and Majestic in AbuDhabi.

The Orchid Hotel,MumbaiHarsha Devraj has been appointedgeneral manager of The Orchid Ho-tel, Mumbai. He brings with himover 17 years of experience in thehospitality industry.

He has been associated withvarious segments of hospitality in-cluding operations, marketing,projects, strategy building andbusiness development and has

worked with The Taj Lands End Mumbai, Taj Manjarun Devraj, TajResidency Nashik and Sarovar Grand Hometel. He set up a 4 starproject – Lazy Lagoon – in North Goa in 2007. It has been brand-ed as a Sarovar Portico Suite unit. He also set up two 5 -starproperties – Clarion The Beach, South Goa and Clarion TheWest End, Nashik.

Courtyard by Marriott,Mumbai InternationalAirportGautam Bhandari has been appointedgeneral manager of Courtyard byMarriott, Mumbai InternationalAirport. In his new role, Gautam willbe responsible for managing thepersonnel and financial operations,streamlining the objectives of F&Band marketing hotel activities.

Previously, Gautam was workingas the Hotel Manager with Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centreand Hotel. He brings over 14 years of hospitality experience to the ta-ble. He has been associated with international brands such asMarriott and InterContinental Hotel Group.

Formule 1 Greater NoidaFlorian Kohli has been appointed

general manager of Formule 1 GreaterNoida, Accor’s first international low-cost hotel.

Florian has been associated withthe hospitality industry for over sixyears and has worked in variouscapacities over the span of his career.He has been associated with Accorsince 2007; he joined the sales &marketing Team at Novotel HyderabadInternational Convention Center. Other hotels he has been associatedwith are Ibis Berthier Porte de Clichy Paris and Ibis Delhi InternationalAirport. Florian completed an integrated IMHI Cornell Program fromParis and a two-year Masters in Business Administration.

Crowne Plaza New DelhiRohiniPranav Bharadwaj has been appoint-ed director of sales and marketing ofCrowne Plaza New Delhi Rohini. Inhis new role, he will be responsiblefor planning, developing and imple-menting promotional strategies, salesand marketing plans and specialsales projects.

In the span of 15 years, Pranav hasbeen associated with brands such asMarriott Hyderabad, Hyatt Kolkata, Le Meridien Jaipur and LeelaMumbai. An IILM alumnus, he also received a Post Graduate degreein sales and marketing from National Institute of Sales.


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People…The Westin HyderabadMindspaceMayank Uniyal has been promotedas associate director of sales of TheWestin Hyderabad Mindspace. In hisnew role, he will be responsible fortapping new market segments andmaximizing productivity. He willalso work towards enhancing talentwithin the team while living up toThe Westin culture. Previously, hewas working as senior business de-

velopment manager.Mayank has a rich experience of 11 years in the hospitality indus-

try. He has been associated with hotel brands like Choice HotelsInternational, Sarovar Hotels Pvt. Ltd and The Leela Palaces Hotels& Resorts.

The Suryaa, New DelhiDhananjay Kumar has beenappointed resident manager of TheSuryaa, New Delhi. His new roleinvolves overlooking and stabilizingthe F&B department.

Dhananjay has an experience ofover 18 years in the hospitality in-dustry and has worked in variouscapacities with some of the mostpopular brands in hospitality likeHyatt Regency in Dubai, The

Oberoi, Hilton, Shangri-La, The Claridges and Radisson. A certifiedtrainer from Hyatt and Shangri-La International and a keen winesommelier, he has also represented India at various Internationalwine festivals.

The Westin MumbaiGarden CityAditya Shamsher Malla has been ap-pointed executive assistant manager- sales & marketing of The WestinMumbai Garden City. He has beenassociated with the hospitality indus-try for over 18 years.

Prior to joining, Aditya was work-ing as Director of sales & marketingat The Westin Hyderabad Mind-space. Other hotel brands he has

worked with are The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata and Skal InternationalKolkata (127) at Skal International Asia.

Sarovar Hotels &ResortsShantanu Jha has been appointedgeneral manager sales (West) of Saro-var Hotels & Resorts. Based out ofMumbai, he will oversee the sales of-fices in Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat andVadodra.

In the span of his career, Shan-tanu has been associated with brandssuch as Radisson, Grand Hyatt andInterContinental. He has a wide expo-sure and expertise in hotel sales and marketing.

Marriott IndiaSamir Kant Avasthi has beenappointed director of MICE ofMarriott India. In his new role, Samirwill be responsible for conventionsales. He will also look into creatingunit synergies with all Marriott hotelswithin India, increasing rotationalassociation business and improvingnetworking opportunities.

In the span of eight years in thehospitality industry, he has been as-sociated with brands like The Grand, InterContinental and Taj. Hehas also been awarded the President Circle for 2009 & 2010 and Rog-er J. Dow Sales Excellence award for 2010 performance at the AsiaPacific Sales & Revenue leaders meet.

JW MarriottMumbaiLeena Sengupta has been appointedrooms division manager of JWMarriott Mumbai. She will beresponsible for the operations forRooms Division. She will also lookafter the Front Office, Housekeepingand Spa functions of the hotel.

In the span of nearly 16 years,she has worked with prestigiousbrands like The Oberoi Group, TheGrand New Delhi and The Taj Palace.

She is an alumnus of the Oberoi Centre of Learning andDevelopment (OCLD). Leena has been honoured with the LongService Award and the Leader of the Month Award at The OberoiHotels.

54


Mirror Minerva &Console Minerva byQboid Design House

Qboid Design House brings to you an attrac-tive offering to redecorate the interiors. MirrorMinerva and Console Minerva, from the house ofQboid, lend the space a grandiose appeal withdelicate, skilful carvings using silver and golddeco finish. Together, they fit beautifully.

The look and quality of the pieces match theappeal of the royal Victorian Era. Independently,the mirror makes for a breathtaking hanging onthe wall while the elegant console offers plentyof storage space along with aesthetic appeal.Mirror Minerva is priced at Rs 39,900 andConsole Minerva is priced at Rs 44,900.For more information, visitwww.qboiddesignhouse.com

Products…

Bathline Sensations PresentsOVERFLOW Whirlpool by KÄSCH

Bathline Sensations brings to you arevolutionary bathtub by KÄSCH fromthe OVERFLOW collection. The OVER-FLOW Whirlpool promises the ultimatebathing experience that brings oneclose to nature.

The Whirlpool is designed to en-

hance the bath and revitalize all the sens-es. This unique bathtub is meant tosoothe a stressed mind with the sound ofwaterfalls and spring waters.For more information,call 011-47690000 or get in touch [email protected]

Home Et Tu Presents CosyCouches and Seaters

Home Et Tu has introduced a brand new range of couches and seaters, a first forthe brand. Adding colours and vibrancy to any space, the couches not only providecomfort but also beautify the room or lobby. The couches can be customised witha wide variety of fabrics by brands such as Jab, Chivasso, Carlucci, Alhambra, EasyLinder and Elitis.

The lounger with stool by Home Et Tu is made from puretussar silk fabric and is upholstered in quilted embroi-dery. The lounger is priced at Rs57,000 and the stool at Rs 19,900.For more information, visitwww.homeettu.com


| 55

Indian Folk Art Formsby Baaya Design

Baaya Design has on offer a wide variety of tradi-tional Indian art forms, like murals and paintings,straight from the artisans. While adding beauty tohomes and offices, it also works towards preservingancient culture and traditional art forms.

Baaya Design offers Kalighat and Jadupatta, Gondart from MP; Kalamkari and Shadow puppet art fromAndhra Pradesh; Madhubani, Godhna and Mithilafrom Bihar; Mughal Miniatures and Kishangarh paint-ings, Phad and Sanjhi from Rajasthan; Thangka andMandala art from Sikkim and Himachal; Orissa Pata-chitra and Saura art from Orissa; Warli fromMaharashtra; Sohrai and Khovar from Jharkhand andTanjore art from Tamil Nadu. It also offers Dokra artand Bengal Patachitra.For more information, visit www.baayadesign.comor call 022-65210165 / 09619284141

EPSON launches Full-Featured Projector Series

Products…

FRETTE presents the Luxury Abalo-nes Fashion Light Quilt as part of itsSpring Summer – Couture, Luxury col-lection. These silk duvet covers andquilts exude an elegant, luxurious andclass appeal with natural, iridescentcolours in large spiralling patterns. It isavailable in two colours – dark blueand pink.

The light quilts belong to the Grottorange that comprises of jacquard cottonbed sets, pillows, terry towels, bedcov-ers, cushions and quilts. The rangebegins at Rs 18,200 and goes up toRs 3,28,000.For more information,visit www.frette.com orcall 22873406/05

Luxury Abalones Fashion LightQuilt by FRETTE

EPSON has launched its latest Eb-1800 series. The lat-est full-featured projector offers brightness of up to 4000lm and comprehensive connectivity. The features enablethe projector to be used efficiently even in bright areas.It can also be networked successfully to receive imageand audio signals.

These new launches by EPSON are perfect for busi-ness as well as education purposes. The price range ofthe EB-1800 series begins at Rs 87,200.For more information, visit www.global.epson.com

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Products…

Living in Style, Mumbai re-cently launched CA Style – arange of lavish contemporaryfurniture. With 10,000 sq ft ofplush, magnificent home decorfurniture and accessories, theCA Style section of Living inStyle, Mumbai has on displaysome of the best contemporaryfurniture from internationalbrands like Camel Italy, CaliaItalia and Kelvin Giormani.With new design concepts, theaim of the store is to transform

CA Style by Living In Style, Mumbai

Huawei LaunchesCloud Phones

Huawei Devices recently launched its smartest, slimmest andlightest tablet yet – MediaPad. The much awaited Huawei Medi-aPad is the world’s first 7" Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet.

The MediaPad makes for a great portable entertainmentand business option. It is driven by Qualcomm' s dual-core1.2GHz processor to drive easy multi-tasking, richer web brows-ing and faster processing of HD movies and games. It measuresjust 10.5mm (0.4 inches) deep and weighs approximately 390g(0.86 pounds). It offers industry’s highest 217 PPI (pixels perinch), an IPS screen, WXGA (1280X800 pixels) display, 1080Pfull HD and SRS.

It also features a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera and a5 megapixel auto focus rear facing camera with HD video re-cording capabilities. It comes with Flash 10.3 support and fullHDMI output. It is priced at Rs 28,359.For more information, visit www.huawei.com/ap/en/

shopping into a revelling experi-ence.

The CA Style section is de-signed with utmost care andattention is given to comfort andelegance. The purple lighting andmodern wallpapers truly add tothe look and feel as well. With aconstant lookout for evolvingtrends, the brand Living in Stylepromises unparalleled qualityand excellence.For more information, call2875286/28773448.

LG Presents HealthGuardTM

LG recently launched a brand new range of refrigeratorswith Health GuardTM, a unique air purification system. Thissystem uses four filters for dust, fungi spore, bacteria and odourto circulate clean and healthy air. It realises a strong sterilizationup to 99.99% bacteria which ensures Purest Air inside the refrig-erator.

This unique, new feature is available in LG's Wonder Doorand Frost Free refrigerators. The price ranges from Rs 47,100 toRs 1,86,500.For more information, call 9871630164 or [email protected]


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Products…

All Weather Range 2012 by Trend n’ DesignTrend n' Design presents their all new All

Weather Range 2012 of trendy hand woven fur-niture with elite aesthetics. All products aremade of synthetic fibres that are 100% UV, frost,water and fade resistant. The range requireszero maintenance. The collection includesproducts such as outdoor dining furniture, pa-tio umbrella, living range, pool furniture andaccessories.

Trend n' Design offers high quality furniturefor hotels, motels, resorts, corporate andtownships. The manufacturing unit of thecompany is based in New Delhi.For more information, [email protected]

FCML IntroducesJVD Locks

The first French manufacturer of hotel accessories, JVD offers cuttingedge safety solutions with supreme quality and service. JVD electronic doorlocks are manufactured using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tech-nology. The technology allows for contactless operation and lightmaintenance. The RFID technology also allows for more powerful anti-clon-ing security and reprogramming of more than 100,000 times. The locks comein various designs and finishes to go with the appearance of the door. Formore information, visit www.fcmlindia.com

LoomCrafts recently launched the luxurious, environ-ment-friendly "Eco-Tents Cottage" in the Indian market.The tents are temporary in nature with a minimal impacton the environment. Ideal for camping, these are perfectfor areas where permanent structures are not allowed.These are manufactured as per the eco tourism industryguidelines. The frame work is made of alloy aluminiumwhile the top and sides are done in tensile membrane fab-ric. This grants the tents a long life. They are fit for tropicalregions and are wind proof. The tents also provide guestswith eco-amenities like solar power, natural ventilation,cloakroom and bathtub. The price range starts fromRs 2,500 per sq ft and goes up to Rs 3,500 per sq ft.For more information, visit www.loomcrafts.comor call +91-120-4561647

LoomCrafts Launches “Eco-Tents Cottage”

LoomCrafts Launches “Eco-Tents Cottage”

58


NEWS SNIPPETS

UK-based Premier Inn is geared to expand its foot-hold in the country. The group already owns and

operates hotels in Bengaluru and New Delhi in India.The group says it is in second phase of developmentfrom where it wants to grow through an asset-lightroute.

“Our approach has been realistic. In the first phase,we invested in this market to showcase and establishour brand and so we decided to own and managehotels. Now, we plan to follow an asset-light model.We target to open seven to eight hotels a year,” saidAly Shariff, managing director, Premier Inn India.

The group has so far invested Rs 300 crore in themarket. It says it has identified some locations inmetros, Tier II and III cities in India to take up manage-ment contracts. There are three hotels underconstruction in Pune, Goa and Chennai. The Pune ho-tel at Kharadi with 113 keys will be operational by July2013; hotel at Anjuna in Goa will have 130 rooms,which will open by March 2014 and the Chennai prop-erty located at OMR with 108 keys will be operationalby September 2014.” ■

by PURVA BHATIA

Hotel Hindustan International (HHI) hasannounced its foray in Maharashtra with

the launch of its new property in Pune. Thehotel which brings the total portfolio of HHIgroup’s properties to five will open shortly.The property targets the business traveller.

“We are delighted to add Pune to HHI’sfootprint and it is our first entry into Maha-rashtra. This is the fifth property from the HHIGroup and like other HHI properties this onetoo reveals a new world unfolding from theold. The Pune property is upscale and is setto cater to India’s fast growing business trav-el market. It is created to achieve the bestworld class standards in hospitality, comfortand luxury. Guests can look forward to HHI’sunique offerings in more cities as we contin-ue to expand our brand presence in India,”said DK Jaiswal, chairman & managing di-rector, HHI Group.

The property offers 50 guest rooms atpresent. The rooms are sound proof, with ful-ly automated power curtains and touchpanels for all services and lighting. They also

have in-room coffee machines.The hotel also features two banquets for

conferences and meetings, Crystal I andCrystal II.

For recreation, the property offers The EyeClub (resto bar and lounge) and El Fresco

(open air restaurant). The Eye Club isattached with an exclusive island bar andspecial dining room. El Fresco offers livebarbecues and customised mini tandoorswith Indian, Mexican, Italian and Spanishpreparations. ■

HOTEL HINDUSTAN LAUNCHES A PROPERTY IN PUNE

PREMIER INN PLANS TO OPEN8 HOTELS PER YEAR IN INDIA


| 59

NEWS SNIPPETS

GOCO HOSPITALITYTO DEVELOPWELLNESS

RESORT IN INDIA

Thailand-based GOCO Hospitality, aconsulting and management

company is looking for “the right partner”to open a wellness resort in the country.“We want to create a destination likeAnanda. It will be a wellness resort. Rightnow we are looking for right partners.While we eventually would like to investin real estate, at present we are onlylooking for management contracts,” saidIngo Schweder, CEO, GOCO Hospitality.

The company already provides spamanagement services in India at TheClaridges, Surajkund, Delhi NCR. GOCOwill also offer its services at the upcomingMGM Bellagio Mumbai property set toopen in 2015. It is currently working on23 projects in 14 countries around theworld for both individual clients andinternational hospitality groups such asMGM Hospitality and Moevenpick Hotels& Resorts. According to Ingo, the group’sUSP lies in the expertise it offers. Thegroup will also invest in opening trainingschools to build a talent pool for theindustry. ■

Treepie Hospitality Private Limited (Treepie) and Oriental Senses Spa (Oriental

Senses) recently announced a joint ventureto set up an exclusive line of luxury spas –Bespoke Spa – pan India. Sumant Batra, thefounder of Treepie, said that with this ven-ture they want to develop something uniqueand exclusive. “We want to create our owndefinition of wellness. For us, it’s all aboutmaking the guests feel good, he added.

Bespoke Spa boasts a very unique designand concept and promises personalised ex-periences on two levels – location specificand guest preferences. Talking about the

The Bangkok based Six Senses Resorts & Spas have been acquired byPegasus Capital advisors L.P., a US based private equity fund man-

ager for an undisclosed sum. According to the terms of the deal, Pegasuswill acquire all of the Six Senses and Evason branded resort and spamanagement contracts and related intellectual property rights and op-erate them under a new company managed by Pegasus and its affiliates.Bernhard Bohnenberger, currently the president of Six Senses, will becontinuing in that role and heading the Six Senses' Bangkok office.

“Six Senses is known around the world for providing a unique andinnovative guest experience,” commented Craig Cogut, founder,Pegasus Capital Advisors. “The brand has a great heritage, and webelieve it is strongly positioned to grow. We are confident that ourstrong management team will continue to build on its legacy as arecognized leader in luxury hospitality.”

The Soneva brand and resorts, as well as the company’s real es-tate assets and holdings, are not included in the transaction, and willcontinue to be led by Sonu Shivdasani, the former founder and

SIX SENSES RESORTS & SPATO BE ACQUIRED BY PEGASUS CAPITAL

CEO of Six Senses, who will serve as chairman and CEO and princi-pal shareholder of The Soneva Group. “This transaction will allow meto focus solely on the development of the Soneva portfolio of resortsand real estate assets, and allow the Soneva and Six Senses brandsto flourish independently of each other,” said Sonu Shivdasani. ■

new brand Ahoi Haolai Sitlhou, the founderof Oriental Senses Spa, said “Oriental Sensesis all about Asian therapies but Bespoke Spawill focus on western therapies as well. Thereis a lot of stress on training of the staff, whichI will do myself. More than luxury we want toconcentrate on service and quality. Ultimate-ly, we want Bespoke to be known as a spadestination”.

The first spa of the brand will open inhotel Te Aroha, a Treepie property. Thelaunch will make Te Aroha the first hotelproperty in Kumaon hills to have a luxuryspa. ■

BESPOKE SPA: A JOINT VENTUREOF TREEPIE AND ORIENTAL SENSESBESPOKE SPA: A JOINT VENTURE

OF TREEPIE AND ORIENTAL SENSES

60


The eighth annual HICSA has been reviewedextensively in this issue. In fact, we havepronounced it eminently successful – with highparticipation from global CEOs of international

hotel chains. Having said that, it wouldn’t be startling to saythat the industry needs more forums like these. For all ourgrowth, with every company announcing aggressive growthand expansion plans, there are grave issues that need to beconsistently addressed. One annual HICSA, for all its success,is not adequate enough. We probably need many moreindustry-building forums round the year, throughout thecountry, bringing many more stakeholders together to discussand deliberate on numerous other concerns.

Shortage of skilled manpower is one of the key concernsthe industry is battling with. Is the industry drawing the besttalent? Are we able to retain the talent that we have? Howoften is the trained talent going to other service industries orto other countries within the hospitality zone (fortunately,some of this talent is coming back). But HR remains a bigissue. If we have a hundred thousand rooms underconstruction, and even if we assume only half of them willmaterialise, where will the manpower to service thisadditional supply, come from? There is a dire need tomanage the talent available within the country.

Building a hotel is not getting any simpler. The cost perroom is difficult to manage while the land and constructionisn’t getting any cheaper. How and when will we be able tobuild more affordable hotels? Again, there are differentverticals in which hotels exist – in golf courses, theme parks,wildlife resorts, convention centres, wellness spas – each ofthem have their own distinct challenge. There is a hugedemand for each, waiting to be tapped.

Furthermore, there are scores of permissions andapprovals required, which take a lot of time. Those ingovernance need to be explained how the machinery worksin developed countries, where the rules are simple, definedand transparent.

Taxes may remain a matter of concern but then we can’twish them away. But we can hope for a government regime thatis more appreciative of the industry in the given economicframework of our country and therefore, we can wish forsimplification, if not lowering, of taxes. Unfortunately, hospitalityis considered an elitist sector, whereas hotels must be acceptedas ‘essential’ infrastructure. Whether it is 1-star property ordeluxe, they are all equally essential because each has a marketof its own. The industry needs more platforms to voice theseconcerns and many more and look for solutions. ■

by NAVIN S BERRY

EDITOR’S PAGE

Hospitality Sector NeedsMore Forums


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hotelscapes april 2012

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