Cygnett Hotels and Resorts to Clock INR 100 Cr Revenue by End of FY18; Plans to Go Global

STARTED IN the year 2014, Cygnett Hotels & Resorts is now all set for its global expansion. Spreading its wings in South Asia, Middle East, North Africa and USA, the hospitality company will be announcing the launch of its properties in Dhaka and Sri Lanka before the end of FY18. In India, the plan consists of 12 new hotels, tapping mostly the tier 1 cities. BW Hotelier caught up with Sarbendra Sarkar, Founder and Managing Director of Cygnett Hotels and Resorts to know more about his expansion plans and company strategies.

“We are happy to announce that we are going to make a truly global hotel company. We also have registered an office in California. After two properties in Dhaka and Sri Lanka, our next immediate target will be East and North Africa. I feel Africa has a huge scope,” Sarkar started with. In India, the company targets to add 1000 keys every year, currently enjoying the portfolio of 1350 keys in total. The company is looking forward to adding 6000+ keys by 2022 and to benchmark “Cygnetture Service & Experiences” in the industry.

The company will be launching one property in Jaipur this month, followed by each in Itanagar, Asansol and Ranthambore. In Delhi NCR the company plans to come up with two new hotels.

Cygnett Hotels and Resorts has hotels under its brands such as Cygnett Plaza, Cygnett Park, Cygnett Inn and Cygnett Lite, among others. Sarkar told us about the resort categories upon which the company is working and soon launching one in Goa and Sikkim.

Strategically chosen locations are the main growth strength of the company. “If you land to Lucknow or Jammu, our hotels are quite very much prominent in terms of visibility,” Sarkar added. Company’s plans to expand in tier 1 cities is also a part of visibility strategy. “We are already present in tier 2 and tier 3 cities because we are more of a smart hotel than a luxury hotel. For us expanding to the tier 1 cities is to bring more visibility. Indian travellers are now very much familiar with my brand, what now I want is to expand our visibility in terms of foreign travellers,” he told us.

The company follows the asset-light model and has no plans to invest in India any time in the near future. “Places like Vietnam and Sri Lanka is a market to invest according to me,” Sarkar said. Out of 15 hotels in the company’s portfolio, 60 percent of hotels are doing an average of 80 percent of occupancy, and rest is between 65-75 percent of occupancy rates. As told by Sarkar, the company will be clocking INR 100 Cr revenue by the end of this financial year.

Believing in old world hospitality and new era technology, Cygnett Hotels and Resorts is using the latest in technology to support this very core value. “I’m developing a merchant booking engine, blockchain using artificial intelligence and a very different loyalty programme. We will also be coming up with our own app and new cognizant website. Within next 8 to 9 months, these programs will be launched,” Sarkar told us. According to him, his investment in technology will be a game changer in the global hospitality market.

The company has already developed CygnettCX, an amalgamation of an information-rich and user-friendly website, the eCentral Reservations System(Cloud-CRS), an Online Reputation Management(ORM), a CRM and a service monitoring module all supported by artificial intelligence and data analytics.

Sarkar feels that within the next five years, the hotel business is going to shine. “Domestic travelling should be given importance because it has risen at a tremendous rate. My hotel does 75 to 80 percent of only domestic travellers. Also, what I have noticed is that the duration of night stays has increased. The hospitality business is dependent upon a lot of other industries, which means growth is interlinked,” he concludes.