Lalit Group Announces Tie-up with Worldhotels to Increase Global Reach

By Bikramjit Ray THE LALIT Suri Hospitality Group announced a tie-up with Worldhotels for their four main business hotels, in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. The rest of the hotels in the Lalit chain would be part of the loyalty program offered by Worldhotels. When asked why they decided to form the partnership, Keshav Suri, Executive Director, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group said, ’The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group personifies Indian tradition, cuisine, art and culture in all its luxury hotels, palaces and resorts. After strengthening our presence in the domestic market, we decided to intensify our focus on the international market.’ What attracted the Lalit Group to Worldhotels, according to Rakesh Mitra, General Manager ’ Sales and Marketing for the Lalit Group, was World Hotels 35 sales offices across the globe to start with. ’The focus is definitely on the business traveler. Peak Points, Worldhotels’ loyalty program has unique features like insurance for all travellers, I also includes 26 airlines and allows members to spend points in slabs without the need to accumulate them first,’ he added. The other things which attracted the Lalit Group to Worldhotels-was their TRUST program, which is the central reservation system followed by many hotels worldwide as well as a very strong RFP tool, owned through a subsidiary company called Nexus, he said. Roland Jegge, Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific, Worldhotels felt that the Lalit Group is the perfect match for world hotel because of its size and location. ’The hotels are central and have large MICE and Convention Centres, so it’s a perfect match for us, as demand for India increases,’ he told me. World Hotels needed to have more presence and larger hotels in this key destination, according to Jegge. The author is Executive Editor of BW Hotelier.-