Karma Group Planning to Launch New Properties in India

IT WAS in the year 1993 when John Spence, Founder and Chairman of Karma Group, visited India and fell in love with the country. Viewing India as an emerging destination, Spence decided to buy a property in Goa and develop it. “At the time of its inception, the company was called Royal Resorts which 11 years later was changed to the Karma Group. I believe in positive energies and what we give is what we get, and hence I chose the name ‘Karma’,” said Spence in an exclusive conversation with BW Hotelier.

Karma Group has grown to 27 resorts across Europe, Australia and Asia, but India still remains an extremely crucial market according to Spence. “We have four properties in Goa and one each in Rajasthan and Kerala. Right now we are re-focusing on India and have exciting expansion plans on the cards, which include setting up two more properties a year, for the next five years,” he told us.

Speaking about his plans to increase the brand visibility in the Indian market, Spence said, “Our focus for the past 15 years has been expanding the brand. We are now refocusing on India because we are seeing an impressive growth curve here. In addition to that, many of our Indian clients are holidaying with us globally. In fact, the new resorts that we are developing in Europe in particular primarily cater to the Indian consumer.”

“Out of all the markets we have worked in, India is the most exciting. There has been a boom in the middle class as a result of which so many people have the spending capacity to indulge in more holidays. People in India either want to tour locally in places like Goa and Kerala, or explore international travel destinations. When I began my career in hospitality, land in India was affordable and was easily marketable to Europeans. Today the tables have turned and it is cheaper to buy land in Europe and the Caribbean, which can be marketed to Indians and South East Asians,” Spence added.

Spence confessed that for conducting any business in India or a foreign country one has to understand how the system works. “Back in the 90s, it wasn’t particularly easy or liberal as it is now, and that served as a fantastic learning curve. I would say that the experiences and learning in India really set us up in good stead for doing business in Singapore, Bali, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries. Our biggest challenge in the early days was, funding. However now we stand debt free because unlike other companies, we do not borrow capital from the bank and I hold 100 per cent equity in the parent company. Even today, we build from our own capital,” he said.

Having six properties in India, the flagship resort and the one which ranks the highest revenue is the Karma Royal Haathi Mahal, South Goa, according to Spence. Speaking about his expansion plans, Spence said, “We want to do more in Goa as we think it’s a tremendous space with enormous potential. We are being viewed as Goa-centric, but that is where we have done most our business within India for the last 20 years. We now want to explore both North and South India. Going beyond Kerala, we are nurturing expansion plans along the East coast like Pondicherry, Chennai and Coorg,” he concluded.