By Bikramjit Ray
IN THE last four and a half years, Wyndham has seen 250 per cent growth compared to before,’ Deepika Arora, Regional Vice President, Indian Ocean , EMEAI, Wyndham Hotel Group, in an exclusive interview with BW Hotelier.
Arora was bullish about the future for Wyndham in India, when we spoke with her.
’We are currently around 28 operating hotels with 3000 keys. We have 40 plus hotels under construction with around 4500 keys. The open properties include 23 Ramadas, two Days Inns, one Wyndham Grand, a Ramada Encore and a Howard Johnson,’ Arora told us.
In terms of presence, the group has a presence in almost all parts of India, at least in all the key markets. New openings scheduled in 2015 include the Ramada Plaza Agra in April, Days Hotel Jalandhar Jyoti Chowk in May, Ramada Encore Lucknow, Ramada Raipur VIP Road, Days Hotel Chennai OMR Road and Days Hotel Bangalore Whitefield all in October; Ramada Trivandrum Palayam, Ramada Jammu City Center and Ramada Darjeeling Hill Cart Road in December.
’The outlook for this year is to add properties to the brand which we have and continue to nurture our relationship with our Howard Johnson (HoJo) owner for 35 HoJos,’ Arora added.
She said Wyndham was very keen to look at management opportunities as well. ’Ideally, we would like the opportunity to convert an unbranded operational property in a visible location, into a branded property in the next 5 to 6 months.
’We are also interested in brand acquisition of a home-made home-grown brand with existing management infrastructure. We would want a chance to acquire them or control the scenario. We want to grow our flags or increase infrastructure base in India,’ she added.
When asked about the franchisee model and why Wyndham continues with it, Arora told us, ’The franchisee model works for us, but there are things you need to focus on. We have a great deal of focus on training owners, to ensure quality from product standpoint. We start to educate the owner from the building stage about the brand value, the culture’.
’We monitor the quality aspect through self assessment and audits and we focus on helping the owner become more and more technologically advance and maximize revenue of the hotel’, she said.
According to Arora, the biggest challenge of operating in India was in terms of attrition and building the hotel in the set time frame.
’The whole pricing mechanism needs to be policed. A luxury hotel charging 60 dollar ADR will squeeze a mid-market hotel. Owners are feeling the pain. Banks and financial institution are uncomfortable lending, policing will make it better as an investment and business proposition,’ she continued.
In conclusion, when asked why someone would choose Wyndham, Arora expounded,’We are the world’s largest hotel company. We are very flexible when it comes to the product standpoint and dealing with the owner. We really give a good return on investment plus we are very active in the distribution network and loyalty program’.
Bikramjit Ray is Executive Editor, BW Hotelier.
IN THE last four and a half years, Wyndham has seen 250 per cent growth compared to before,’ Deepika Arora, Regional Vice President, Indian Ocean , EMEAI, Wyndham Hotel Group, in an exclusive interview with BW Hotelier.
Arora was bullish about the future for Wyndham in India, when we spoke with her.
’We are currently around 28 operating hotels with 3000 keys. We have 40 plus hotels under construction with around 4500 keys. The open properties include 23 Ramadas, two Days Inns, one Wyndham Grand, a Ramada Encore and a Howard Johnson,’ Arora told us.
In terms of presence, the group has a presence in almost all parts of India, at least in all the key markets. New openings scheduled in 2015 include the Ramada Plaza Agra in April, Days Hotel Jalandhar Jyoti Chowk in May, Ramada Encore Lucknow, Ramada Raipur VIP Road, Days Hotel Chennai OMR Road and Days Hotel Bangalore Whitefield all in October; Ramada Trivandrum Palayam, Ramada Jammu City Center and Ramada Darjeeling Hill Cart Road in December.
’The outlook for this year is to add properties to the brand which we have and continue to nurture our relationship with our Howard Johnson (HoJo) owner for 35 HoJos,’ Arora added.
She said Wyndham was very keen to look at management opportunities as well. ’Ideally, we would like the opportunity to convert an unbranded operational property in a visible location, into a branded property in the next 5 to 6 months.
’We are also interested in brand acquisition of a home-made home-grown brand with existing management infrastructure. We would want a chance to acquire them or control the scenario. We want to grow our flags or increase infrastructure base in India,’ she added.
When asked about the franchisee model and why Wyndham continues with it, Arora told us, ’The franchisee model works for us, but there are things you need to focus on. We have a great deal of focus on training owners, to ensure quality from product standpoint. We start to educate the owner from the building stage about the brand value, the culture’.
’We monitor the quality aspect through self assessment and audits and we focus on helping the owner become more and more technologically advance and maximize revenue of the hotel’, she said.
According to Arora, the biggest challenge of operating in India was in terms of attrition and building the hotel in the set time frame.
’The whole pricing mechanism needs to be policed. A luxury hotel charging 60 dollar ADR will squeeze a mid-market hotel. Owners are feeling the pain. Banks and financial institution are uncomfortable lending, policing will make it better as an investment and business proposition,’ she continued.
In conclusion, when asked why someone would choose Wyndham, Arora expounded,’We are the world’s largest hotel company. We are very flexible when it comes to the product standpoint and dealing with the owner. We really give a good return on investment plus we are very active in the distribution network and loyalty program’.
Bikramjit Ray is Executive Editor, BW Hotelier.
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